Hummingbird
by MizukiYukiko
Summary: Sequel to Kunoichi. Chosen to be the first apprentice of Uchiha Itachi could be seen as a blessing or a curse. She was just praying to kami that it was the former. SakuraXItachi, non-mass AU. 50-shinobi theme #35. Shinobi.
1. Armor Yourself

Story: Hummingbird

Author: MizukiYukiko

Rated: M

Pairing: ItachiXSakura

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own Naruto.

Summary: Chosen to be the first apprentice of Uchiha Itachi could be seen as a blessing or a curse. She was just praying to kami that it was the former.

Notes: Sequel to Kunoichi. 50-shinobi theme #35. Shinobi.

Just as is my normal tendency, I've changed my mind about how this is going to go down. This is going to be my next multi-chaptered fic. It is the sequel to kunoichi. It will eventually be a romance, but a good chunk of the story will focus on the friendship between Itachi and Sakura first. I don't want this to be a sudden romance like some other stories, including my own, can be. It will be gradual.

This story is rated M mostly for violence and discussion of rather mature topics. This is a story of Sakura rising through the ranks of the shinobi world, and it is important to understand that there will be portions that can't simply be rated T. There may be sexual content in later chapters, but I wouldn't worry about this quite yet.

My theme for my quotes will be television shows.

Thank you for reading. Please review and let me know what you think.

* * *

 **Hummingbird**

 **Chapter 1: Armor Yourself**

* * *

" _Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armor yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you." – Tyrion from Game of Thrones_

* * *

The only sound in the hallway was the light clicking of his footsteps; he didn't bother to hide them as he walked up the stairs of the Hokage Tower. The early morning light was still grey, as it had not yet broken over the horizon. Itachi walked with a purpose; he had been summoned to the Hokage's office this early in the morning for a reason.

He just hoped it wasn't another mission as he was supposed to receive a two week vacation. His mother had practically demanded it of him – he had just returned from a mission that had taken him out of the village for almost half a year and deserved proper time to rest, she had told him. For once, he agreed. The mission had been taxing, and he looked forward to being able to catch up on his favorite books and laze around Konoha with Shisui for the next two weeks, enjoying his mother's cooking and maybe training with Sasuke and see how his training was progressing.

The door to the Hokage's office was slightly ajar, so he didn't bother knocking. She already knew he was there.

"Uchiha," Tsunade greeted from her desk. She held her head in her hands as she rubbed her face tiredly. It looked like she hadn't quite woken up yet herself. Morino Ibiki was also in the room looking through files, standing off to the side. He simply looked up and gave Itachi a cursory nod before returning to what he had been doing. The head of the ANBU Black Ops and frequent chuunin exam proctor was hardly a man of words, especially not at such an ungodly hour in the morning.

"Tsunade-sama, Ibiki-sama," he greeted quietly. Moving further into the room, he was able to see what the two had been looking at – personnel files. "You summoned me."

"Right," Tsunade said. Leaning back in her chair, she met his eye with a rather bland look. Ibiki set down the file he had been looking at the give his full attention to the Hokage as well. "As the two of you may know, I've been trying to reform the way the promotion system works in the village since I've come here. Besides the chuunin exams, there is no formal way of testing or promoting our shinobi, and it's resulting in unnecessary death.

"The previous Hokage's promotions were based on amount of time in the field and recommendations, and while this may have worked in the past, I wish to put a more formal program in place. Two years ago, if you remember, I created a quota for how many A and B rank missions a chuunin had to complete before they could apply for jounin, and when they did, they would have to undergo individual trials similar to the chuunin exams, just on a smaller scale."

Itachi and Ibiki both nodded. The Hokage's initiatives were actually rather bold and daring compared to those of the past Hokage and the other villages. There had never been a formal promotion system in place for jounin and ANBU in the past. It was under the discretion of the Hokage as to whom he wanted to promote and who deserved to move up in the ranks. However, he understood the Godaime's wish to change that. Their current system was often ruined by nepotism or favoritism. It was much more difficult for a shinobi of civilian background to receive a promotion than someone from a prestigious clan.

"The jounin were an issue, but ANBU is a major problem. Half of all ANBU deaths are from shinobi who have been in Black-Ops for less than a year. So for ANBU, I'm implementing a new mentorship program," Tsunade continued carefully. "First, just like the jounin promotions, the candidates will have to meet a certain quota of A, B, and S ranked missions before being considered; however, there are no applications. We will be approaching these candidates ourselves to see about a possible promotion.

"A current or retired ANBU Black-Ops member will train new recruits for three months. Then for the three months following that, the recruit will join an ANBU squad as an interim member. They will be promoted officially to ANBU as a full member after the six months are complete contingent on the recommendation of the mentor and the team that he or she is placed on," Tsunade's voice trailed off for a moment as she looked at the two men in the room. "Does this sound fair?"

Ibiki was the first to speak. "It will take a lot of personnel hours to do this. I can't spare the ANBU for this sort of undertaking."

Tsunade looked at him carefully before replying. She seemed to have planned for this. "We are going to start off slow. We only promote three or four ANBU at a time, so that's how we are going to start this. Hopefully, then, as ANBU grows and our mortality rate decreased because the new members are more prepared for what they are getting into, we will be able to expand it."

Ibiki still looked less than convinced but Itachi nodded. It made sense, but that brought up a bigger question.

"How can I help, Tsunade-sama?"

A rather devilish grin split across the Hokage's face, and Itachi slightly regretted asking the question.

"You and a few select others will be my guinea pigs, Uchiha. You will be one of the first mentors we have," Tsunade told him. Although he thought his face stayed blank, the Hokage seemed to pick up on his feelings towards this. "You have been running yourself ragged for almost three years. It's time to slow down before you get yourself killed, and I don't need to lose one of my most valuable shinobi because he was too tired. Three months in the village isn't going to kill you."

He simply nodded his head once – that two week vacation just seemed to get a little longer. If the Hokage ordered it, he would do it without question.

"These are the files of all the jounin that have met the mission quota for promotion. You will be allowed to choose your kohai. Take the names and feel free to observe them. They are all currently in the village and most of them train daily, so it shouldn't be hard to figure out which one you see with the most potential," Tsunade told him, handing him the stack of files. There were about ten of them. "Come back to me in a week with your answer."

Itachi flipped through the files quickly, giving them a cursory glance. When he got to the fourth file, though, he stopped. He did not need to look further. Plucking the file of his chosen mentee, he put it down on the desk in front of the Hokage. Ibiki had come over and was peering at the name on the file.

"This is who I will choose," he stated quietly. "Haruno Sakura."

X

Vines shot from the earth from seven different directions. Dodging the first three passes, the kunoichi yanked out another kunai from her holster and cut the fourth one, which had wrapped around her wrist, so that it fell in a useless heap to the ground; however, two more had snaked around her ankles and pulled her up so that she was inverted so her back crashed against the tree. Letting out a loud curse, she pulled herself up and started cutting away at the vines that seemed to be just out of reach. At that point, though, there was no hope. More vines were winding down from the tree tops, grabbing her wrists and wrenching them from her kunai and attempts at survival.

Channeling her chakra into her arms, she tried to fight herself free, but it was no use.

There was a splitting battle cry, and she noticed one of her male teammates running towards her with a kunai.

"I've got you, Chouko!" Ryouichi cried. He jumped up onto the tree, channeling chakra into his feet, the boy produced and kunai and aided in freeing her from the vines that made futile attempts at stopping him. Finally, the two were cut down and tumbled to the earth, head over heal, only to find their third teammate, Katsurou, was standing over them.

"Hurry up, you two. We have to find sensei," he said with a smug look. Ryouichi jumped up and began grumbling about know-it-all teammates.

"You could have helped, Kat-bastard," Ryouichi mumbled to him. Chouko just rolled her eyes and cut Katsurou off when he went to go retort to Ryouichi.

"Thank you for helping me, Ryou-kun. And Katsurou, try not to provoke him," Chouko sighed deeply.

The group of genin began to move through the forest quietly, searching for their missing sensei. She had said that she was going to stay in a small portion of the forest and that all they had to do was find her and get the bells from her. They had already taken this test, actually, when they had first been assigned to their sensei, and had passed. They would be able to complete this test easily, they were sure. It would be easy, right?

Wrong.

"She's not above us," Uchiha Katsurou said using his Sharingan searching the trees. His spikey black bangs fell into his face when the wind whipped through the trees. Mumbling a curse, he pushed his rebellious hair out of his eyes and adjusted the Konoha headband that was beginning to sweat on his forehead.

His only female teammate, Uzuki Chouko, was also adjusting her short dark purple locks after the strong wind. Her eggplant colored hair fell down around her chin in a short bob and seemed to be irritating her today more than they had in the past. Finally, she swept her hair into a small hair tie, but it wasn't working very well. Many strands fell back down, and Chouko just huffed in irritation before seemingly giving up.

Pulling her katana out of its sheath suddenly, Chouko examined it with an unhealthy gleam in her eye.

Kurama Ryouichi took a step away from her as the trio made their way through the thicket of trees that their sensei had said she'd be hiding. He took a few steps and closed his eyes, honing his senses. Just like his sensei had taught him, he focused chakra into his feet and allowed it to reach out around him, using it as a type of sonar to see if their sensei's chakra would register.

Chouko, sensing his sudden lack of awareness of the world around him, pushed her katana out in front of her rather amateurishly, prepared to defend her teammate if they were attacked.

Finally, Ryouichi opened his eyes. "I can't sense her chakra on the ground either."

"If she's not in the trees," Katsurou murmured.

"And she's not in the ground," Ryouichi continued.

"She's underneath us!" Chouko cried just as the ground beneath them began to shake. It took only a moment for the entire area underneath them to upheave and they were forced to scramble in the chaos.

Haruno Sakura's fists were flying at her team of genin, chakra enhanced and ready to capture the little brats. They had been out here for the better part of the morning working on their teamwork. After a disastrous mission where the three bickered and fought at the detriment to the mission, Sakura was re-administering the bell test to them as a punishment. When she had first received her little team of genin, they had actually passed the bell test with flying colors, demonstrating that they knew exactly what it meant to be a team.

However, that was when they were new to each other and still being careful of each other's feelings. Now, they realized that their personalities clashed and spent all day every day arguing like children and not like the ninja that they were going to have to be.

Grasping her hand around the thin ankle of Chouko (the poor girl had been getting the brunt of her punishments today for no reason other than she was the slowest of the team), Sakura yanked the small child to the ground and ripped the katana out of her fumbling fingers. Chouko let out a cry of shock, but Sakura was suddenly dealing with Katsurou, who came flying at her with the single tomoe in his Sharingan spinning wildly.

She dodged them easily, but the air around her suddenly shifted. It was barely perceptible; in fact, if her chakra wasn't so tuned to the three, she may not have been able to feel it. Ryouichi was truly getting good at his genjutsu.

"Kai!" she called out, disrupting his chakra flow. Grabbing Katsurou's wrists, Sakura bound them in chakra before throwing him down the ground next to his other teammate. Not unlike Naruto used to, Ryouichi was running towards her now in a head-on attack in a last ditch effort to save their mission. It was no use. Sakura dodged his pitiful punches and eventually tackled him to the ground as well.

The three genin were now laying under her pitifully, staring up at their sensei with wide, frightened eyes.

"Do you three get it now?" Sakura chastised seriously. "You spent so much time arguing with each other that you didn't notice that I was underneath you the entire time. Two of you have the capabilities to sense that kind of information. Instead of using your strengths to work as one cohesive unit, you act as three separate individuals.

"That's all well and good on a solo mission, but this past mission was not a solo mission, and you almost got our charge killed because you couldn't stop arguing long enough to notice that we were being followed. I stepped away for less than an hour to get us food and all hell broke loose! You three are no longer children. You are shinobi of the Leaf and while you're donning your headband, you better damn well act like it!"

Thoroughly chastised, her team looked down in shame. Sakura let out a sigh and rubbed her hand over her face.

"Things could have been a lot worse," she muttered. "Nobody died. Nobody got hurt. This is why you take these missions. See this past failure and today's training as a lesson," Sakura continued. She tilted her head to the side for a moment before turning her head to the darkness of the forest. "You can show yourself, whoever you are."

Her face actively showed shock when Uchiha Itachi stepped from the shadows like a wraith. It had been almost two years since she had last seen him face-to-face. It had been the winter before her eighteenth birthday when she had called him an idiot after rescuing him from an ambush, and besides passing him briefly in the hallways in the Hokage Tower or the hospital, Sakura had not caught wind of the elder of the Uchiha brothers.

He certainly had not come seeing aid for his eyes, Sakura huffed internally.

Schooling her features the best she could, Sakura tilted her head to the side.

"Uchiha-san," she greeted with a straight face. There was shifting from underneath her, and the jounin kunoichi turned her head back to the little rascals that were trying to squirm their way out from the current situation, especially Katsurou, who did not like the fact that the future head of his clan had just heard his chastisement.

Sakura-sensei seemed to sense their trepidation and threw her head back to laugh at her naïve genin. She supposed to children so young who had just heard stories of the famous Uchiha Itachi, he would be something of a feared enigma, and perhaps her most fearful genin was the rather bashful looking Uchiha Katsurou.

"You three can go run laps around the training grounds while Uchiha-san and I talk," Sakura said to them. Instantly, their faces seemed to sink. Although they had done well today, Sakura still had punishment lined up for them. Groaning, the team of youngsters seemed to forget about the Uchiha heir for the moment and lifted themselves off the ground to dust themselves off to prepare for their laps.

Their sensei could be the worst sometimes.

After the three began their jog around training ground four, Sakura tilted her head to the side in the direction of the small pond that sat in the middle of an open field. While training ground three was primarily a large field with a pond and a grove of trees around it, training ground four was primarily trees. A rocky grove surrounded a small pond that sat in the middle of a small clearing.

Itachi followed her with silent, methodical footsteps to the small body of water. He watched her with calculating eyes as she jumped out onto a rock that was catching the sunlight through trees.

"Uchiha-san," Sakura greeted again from her perch above him. "What brings you to the genin neck of the woods?"

Itachi was staring at her with startling intensity before turning and tracking the location of the genin.

"You seem young to have your own genin team," he said to her. Sakura tilted her head. What an odd way to start a conversation. It took her a moment to contemplate her response.

"The jounin-sensei that was supposed to take on this team was killed in the field just prior to receiving his assignment. I was a last minute fill in," Sakura replied, keeping her tone low.

"They have much potential," Itachi replied. "You have the only daughter of Uzuki Yuuago."

"Ah, yes. I sometimes forget Yuuago-san is in ANBU," Sakura replied. Itachi's sharp eyes returned to her quickly. Sakura chuckled. "I am the third highest ranking medic-nin in the village. I'm one of ten medics who are permitted to work on ANBU members. But yes, Chouko-chan is showing great promise in her katana training, and I'm planning on finding her a kenjutsu instructor after their first chuunin exams this spring."

Itachi's eyes were back on the jogging genin. "And then my younger cousin."

Sakura nodded and leapt from her place on the rock to stand next to him, her own emerald eyes following her genin.

"He shows a lot of potential. He's like a lot of the other Uchiha I have worked with – hard working, serious, and a little too proud. He'll do well though, especially with Ryouichi to balance him out," Sakura replied, sliding her eyes to Itachi to see if her comments about the young Uchiha seemed to offend him. If it did, he didn't show it.

Glancing back at her team, she saw Ryou-kun make wild gesticulations while talking with Chouko-chan. Her eyes softened at the young boy, the third member of her little unit. One of the few members of the Kurama family that was left, Ryouichi was showing great promise in their specialization of genjutsu, and she was confident that he would make a fine ninja one day if he could just calm down a bit.

His light auburn hair fell down in choppy layers around his ears, and his bright blue eyes were the same color of the sky. The boy always had a smile, except when he was with Katsurou, who seemed to push his buttons more than anyone could possibly.

They reminded her so much of Naruto and Sasuke sometimes that it hurt.

Itachi's eyes followed the path that Sakura's were taking.

"He's a Kurama," Itachi murmured more to himself. The members of the Kurama family were few and far between in the ninja world now. "His genjutsu?"

Sakura's smile lit with pride.

"Nearly flawless, especially for someone his age," Sakura replied quietly. "I've started teaching him the basics, but I'll have to find him a specialist after their chuunin exams, especially if the three of them manage to pass."

"Will they be ready?"

Sakura tilted her head, folding her arms over her chest while she considered the three. Now, Ryouichi was trying to catch up to Katsurou, who was running ahead of them with a smug look on his face. He must have said something snotty. Chouko was trying to run just as fast as them, trying to keep them from mauling each other. Sakura rolled her eyes, but they held fondness for the little brats.

"Probably not," Sakura replied bluntly. "Katsurou would be in terms of skills, but he's least likely to work as a unit. Ryouichi has the raw talent, but he's too hotheaded. Mentally, Chouko is most prepared, and what she lacks in raw talent she makes up in hard work, but she will need more of it. I would like them to get the experience, though – learn what it's about."

Itachi's head dipped in agreement. Sakura finally turned to him fully.

"I doubt you would come here just to check on how my genin team is doing," Sakura stated bluntly, "Why are you here, Uchiha-san?"

"You are being recruited for ANBU," he replied bluntly. Sakura's eyes widened in shock.

"Oh."

"They are changing the way ANBU promotions are occurring. You have been paired with a mentor who will train you over the next three months if you accept," Itachi explained. Sakura's eyes were plates now, staring at him in shock. One, he had just made said complete sentences. Two, he had just recruited her, _Haruno Sakura,_ into ANBU Black-Ops.

Coming out of her momentary mental stupor, Sakura nodded. This was something she had always hoped for. She had always wanted to end up in Black-Ops where she could use her skills to help on the front lines, hopefully reducing the mortality rate of the shinobi doing the most dangerous missions. It would be hard work, but she could do it. Hardening her resolve each moment, Sakura smiled up at him.

"I accept, Uchiha-san. Do you know who my mentor will be?" Sakura asked, turning to him once again. Itachi just slid his eyes to her, locking his onyx eyes with her steely emerald ones. She seemed to understand instantly because her eyes widened.

"Oh," Sakura replied again. This was an interesting turn of events, indeed. "When do we start?"

X

Swinging her tanto at her attacker, Sakura shifted her weight from her back foot forward so that her weight fell forward. Her sparring partner, disappeared, of course, just as she had expected. The tanto of her attacker was thrust towards her in an arc. Back arching behind her reflexively, Sakura's hands went behind her and her legs followed. Chakra channeled into her legs and she swung them through the air so that she could hopefully land a kick on the shoulder or jaw of her sparring partner.

It didn't work.

Her kick met thin air, and as she completed her attack by losing her balance and toppling over. The summer breeze hit her face while the hot sun beat down on her skin. Letting out a startled laugh, Sakura let her tanto fall to the ground next to her loosening fingertips as she stared up at the bland look that her former attacker was giving her.

"Does you laying on the ground indicate we are finished training for the day?" Sai asked her with a slight tip of his head. Sakura kicked her leg out and it caught under Sai's legs. He fell down next to her so that Sai's head was next to her feet. "I'll take that as a yes."

Sakura let out a deep breath.

"Do you think I'll be able to do it?" she asked him.

Sai was quiet for several minutes, and Sakura was quietly impressed by this. They were working on him taking time to consider answers so that they came out tactful instead of blunt and rude.

"With training and some polishing, you will be able to be a very successful member of ANBU," he finally replied after taking several deep breaths. They had been training for almost an hour and a half straight, without breaks, so Sakura couldn't blame his panting.

"There's a but at the end of that sentence," Sakura replied quickly. Sai was quiet once again. Pulling herself up so she could see the look on his face, Sakura brought her knees up and rested her arms on them. Sai did the same so that they made direct eye contact.

"ANBU is an emotionally taxing," Sai replied. "You tend to…what's the phrase? You wear your heart on your sleeve."

Blinking a few times, Sakura stared at Sai seriously, considering his words carefully. Finally, she huffed a sigh and fell back down so she could stare at the cloudless sky.

"I do not."

Sai swung himself around and laid down next to her.

"Yes, Ugly, you do, and you hold grudges," Sai replied casually. Sakura turned to him, ready to protest, but he cut her off. "Why am I the only person who you still talk to from Team Seven?"

Sakura floundered, but Sai just shook his head.

"Your reasons for leaving the team and cutting ties are valid. I understand why you choose not to associate with your former squad," he explained. "But you still have not let go of your anger."

She couldn't argue with him on that one, so she just laid back and closed her eyes against the glare of the sun, allowing herself to relax a bit. It would be the last time she would be able to in a while.

"I have to try, though," she finally said. Sai's head bobbed up and down next to her in agreement.

"You have surpassed insurmountable odds in the past," he noted with the same bland voice as always. Sakura's face split into a huge smile.

"Was that a compliment, Sai?" she asked rhetorically. Sai looked at her contemplatively for a moment, and Sakura realized that she had gone too far.

"I was under the impression that was clear," he said quizzically. Sakura let out another laugh.

"What are your plans for the rest of the day, Sai?" she asked conversationally.

"I will likely rest for the remainder of the night. I have a mission with Team Seven tomorrow." He looked at her to gauge her reaction carefully. Outwardly, she didn't respond to his mention of her former team, but he knew that even the mention of them could strike a chord with her if she was in the right, or depending on the way he looked at it, _wrong_ , mood. "You?"

Sakura gave him a saucy look. "Shopping with Ino-pig."

Sai's ears perked up at the mention of her blond friend. Sakura couldn't help the laugh that bubbled from her chest. She didn't think that the ink artist even knew that he was developing a crush on the Yamanaka, but Sakura thought it was positively adorable, especially since Ino had shown a piqued interest in Sai as well as of late. The blooming romance between the two was something that made her positively giddy, even if they two didn't realize it yet.

They both got up and began walking towards the village at a relatively sedate pace. Sai looked at her carefully.

"When did Uchiha-san say that your training will begin?" Sai asked. Sakura shrugged her shoulders.

"He said he'd contact me two weeks from now," she replied.

"Then you better rest the next two weeks," Sai advised seriously. "You are in for a very difficult three months.

* * *

Notes: See above author's notes for information about this story. Have a good weekend everyone! I love you all dearly.

Please review and let me know what you think of the new story!


	2. If I Look Back

Author's Note: Enjoy chapter two – I'm sorry for the delay. I'm working two jobs (60 hours a week combined) over the summer, so I've been piecing this together in my spare time, which is rare, but I've got it done! Also, instead of all TV shows, the theme will be Game of Thrones quotes because that's what I've found. And that show/those books is/are awesome!

* * *

 **Hummingbird**

 **Chapter 2: If I Look Back**

* * *

 _"If I look back, I am lost." – Daenerys Targaryan, A Game of Thrones_

* * *

The smallest beads of sweat began to trickle down her forehead. Her hand came up to wipe it away unconsciously, and Sakura took in a long-suffering breath. The southernmost tip of Tea Country had been refreshing due to its location near the ocean and had a lovely beach that she spent plenty of time relaxing on, but now, back in the thick of summer forests in Konoha, Sakura was _dying_.

Okay, not literally dying, _but_ the humidity was dense and the sun poked through the forest trees enough to hit her face and blind her while she and her squad of genin were walking back towards the village. The air was still as death, offering no breeze for relief.

Her chakra was low from a fight with bandits that occurred just when the group had passed the border from Tea back into Fire, and it made her feel even more lethargic. There had been an increased amount of bandit activity down south, and Sakura figured Tsunade was sending more shinobi on missions to Tea as of late to tamp some of it down. However, it must be getting worse if Tsunade figured it was safe to send them down there without backup.

A group of genin and their jounin instructor should have been a relatively easy target for the group of six men. But little did they know that the jounin sensei was the Godaime's irritable apprentice (who was hot, hungry, and dehydrated), and while her genin were still inexperienced, they were able to hold their own against two of the rogues, while Sakura dealt with the four strongest. Her little group of students had worked together flawlessly; their instructor was a proud momma bear and had promised them ice cream when they returned to the village as reward for a job well done.

They were close now, less than a kilometer out, and her sluggish little genin seemed to realize this – there was a new bounce to their steps as the promise of ice cream came ever closer.

"Let's race back to the gates! First one there gets a double serving!" Ryouichi cried out. Well, she wasn't sure when she agreed to do that, Sakura thought to herself blandly, but she couldn't deny the certain adorableness her green recruits had when they got excited for something as simple as ice cream. They were ninja now, and that brought a tremendous responsibility to them, but they were still only twelve and thirteen years old. Excitement over ice cream reminded her of that.

"Am I allowed to participate in this competition?" Sakura asked with a smile. It was surprisingly Katsurou who made a face of distaste at the thought.

"No way, sensei," he replied. "You're way too fast. None of us would win."

Sakura tilted her head to the side and lifted her finger to point further down the path, where there was a disappearing purple head running around the bend ahead, getting farther and farther away.

"I suppose that's fair. But you two better catch up to Chouko if you want to win."

"Hey!" both boys cried in unison, taking off in a rush after their female counterpart. Letting out a small chuckle, she picked up the pace as well. As tired as she was, she couldn't deny the pull of her favorite ice cream stand in the shopping district of downtown Konoha.

She was just making her way around the aforementioned bend when she heard the distinctive sound of two bodies colliding and a curse escape from her female genin's mouth. Worried that the two boys had caught up to her and were planning on punishing her for her head start, Sakura pushed some chakra into her feet and leapt the rest of the way to her team in several large jumps.

It wasn't the boys who had collided with her, though; it was a bedraggled looking Squad Seven that were at the center of the commotion. Sakura had to tamp down the instant feeling of irritation that welled within her whenever she saw her former squad. It was like an irritating itch within her stomach that just couldn't be scratched, all while her heart sank to her toes. Instead of letting her emotions get the better of her, just like Sai said she did, Sakura decided that this would be an excellent test for her.

To her amusement, it seemed that Sasuke had taken the brunt of the hit from her genin. Chouko must have collided right into him, but since she was so small, it hadn't seemed to affect him in any way. Judging by their position on the ground, Katsurou and Ryouichi had tripped over Chouko's prone body just after she had fallen to the ground.

It had been a long time since she had seen the members of Team Seven all together like this. Most of the time, their interactions were limited to fleeting glances or awkward "Hellos" in the Hokage Tower and hospital. Between training with her genin, working at the hospital, trying to keep a social life with Ino and Tenten, and training with Sai, Sakura rarely had time to think about her dissolved former team. And now she could add ANBU training to that list as well.

Both Sasuke and Naruto were taller now. Naruto was broad, thick in muscle, built for force and destruction. Even Sasuke was more built that either his older brother or Kakashi, but his body was still more naturally built for speed. It was late in the day, and stubble was forming under both of their noses and jaws in patches. They weren't full men yet, so their facial hair was uneven, which is probably why they both kept it shaved. Other than their matured faces and bodies, they both looked the same. Sasuke was gorgeous as always, and Naruto had sparkling ocean blue eyes with a hint of innocence and mischief.

Sasuke was staring down at her pint-sized hellions with a surly expression, and Sakura was sure he was about to scold her genin.

Psh. Like she's let him do that – they were little monsters, but they were _her_ little monsters, and she wasn't going to put up with her former crush and teammate bully her students.

"Chouko, apologize," she commanded in a stern but forgiving tone as she walked up at a steady, unrushed pace, even though she was itching to throw all of her genin over her shoulders and rush out of there, away from the slap of her past all standing on a bend in the forest.

Squaring her shoulders and throwing her head back, Sakura made eye contact with the team she had been forced out of three years prior. Kakashi's arm was in a sling, Sai had a bandage wrapped around his pale waist that would usually show his bare stomach, and even Naruto and Sasuke looked more haggard than usual.

"And get off the ground, you three."

Her team scrambled up, almost knocking each other over in the process, and made their way back to their sensei. Sakura didn't fail to notice that they stood behind her, using her as a shield to block them from the infamous Team Seven and a rather dangerous looking Sasuke Uchiha, who was brooding and glowering at her team. Sakura kept her focus on her intimidated genin for a few moments before looking at Sai, who was giving her a very fake, strained smile – something was wrong.

The focus of her old team seemed to be solely on her, which was unnerving. Kakashi was staring at her with his normal eye crinkled, kind and thoughtful, and Naruto was somewhere between excited and nervous. Sasuke was glaring at her. Shocker.

It was rather nerve-wracking and infuriating all at once.

"I'm sorry for running into you, Uchiha-san," Chouko said quietly, taking a step towards Sakura when the Uchiha's eyes focused on the little girl. But those obsidian eyes slid back to the sensei of the squad quickly, and Sakura could feel the scalding hot retort that was about to blow from his mouth in response to Chouko's apology.

"You're hurt," she observed, interrupting Sasuke by turning her eyes away from him and dragging them to Sai and then Kakashi.

Sai smiled at her.

"We were attacked by Sound when coming in from the border between here and River," he explained. Sakura frowned. The activity of what Tsunade called the fringe villages had been steadily increasing since Sakura's first run in with them two years prior. And they were getting closer and closer to their village. On top of that, Sakura was beginning to think the current crops of bandits that were attacking small villages had something to do with this as well, either directly or indirectly.

Sakura turned to her team of genin.

"I'm going to talk with them for a little bit. You three head to the ice cream stand, and I'll meet you there," Sakura ordered. All three of them looked ready to protest, but Sakura cut it off. "If you three beat me there, you all get double servings."

They were gone in a flash.

"Control your genin," Sasuke hissed at her the moment her team was out of sight. Sakura just leveled him with a dead stare, pushing past him to get to Kakashi, who, judging from his slung shoulder and the bandage over his eye, was in the worst shape.

"We're less than a kilometer from the village," Kakashi reasoned when Sakura came up to look at his shoulder. "I can get treated there. I can feel your chakra is low."

Sakura just shot him a withering stare. She would not leave a fellow shinobi in need unless absolutely necessary. That and, "I know you won't go to the hospital. Naruto heals by himself. Sasuke has his mother to fuss over him, and Sai wouldn't dare not going to the hospital or he would face retribution from me and Ino."

Kakashi let out a little chuckled and even Naruto laughed at Sakura throwing Sai under the bus. Sakrua forced Kakashi to sit down on a nearby tree stump and pulled his arm out of the sling. As she began to prod it, he let out a pained sigh.

Tch. Baby.

"It's dislocated and the muscles around it are torn, meaning they can't hold the joint in place," Sakura explained evenly. "I don't have enough chakra to soothe this, so it's going to hurt."

Kakashi braced himself as Sakura took a place half behind him where she could get leverage. "On the count of three. One…" _Crack._ Her former sensei let out a cry of shocked pain just as she forced the joint back into its socket and immediately flooded it with soothing chakra, which worked to heal the muscle around it.

"Geez," Kakashi sighed. "You said three."

"It hurts less if you don't know it's about to happen," Sakura replied evenly. She healed his shoulder enough so that if he didn't go to the hospital, which she knew he wouldn't, he would be able to rest for a few days and be back in tip-top shape. Fitting his lame shoulder back into his makeshift sling, Sakura adjusted it so it would be more functional. "Rest it for three days. No missions, no training."

Before he could argue, she stepped away before pulling out a card from her medic pouch and tucked it into the pocket on his vest.

"Set up an appointment with me for your eyes," she said. Glancing back at Sai, she shot him a warning look, "Go to the hospital. I will be by after ice cream to check on you."

Not bothering to give Sasuke a passing glance, her eyes finally landed on Naruto. It was him she was avoiding looking at the most. They had been friends, closer even, like family. But the small crack that had formed between them three years ago was a canyon now – the rift had been detonated into an insurmountable abyss. Worse than the anger she felt towards Sasuke or the resentment she held to Kakashi, Naruto had been her greatest disappointment.

And he knew it.

Giving her a wan smile, Naruto stepped forward to say something, but Sakura took a step back unconsciously, pushing herself away from him without really meaning too.

"I have to go meet my genin and then report to Tsunade. Something bigger is brewing," she said quickly, avoiding eye contact with anyone besides Sai. Then, using the last of her chakra, she disappeared in a puff of pink smoke.

Naruto's shoulders slumped in disappointment.

X

Ino barged through the door with little preamble. There he was – half slumped on the hospital bed with a nurse cleaning out an old, crusty looking would that wrapped from his naval up to the back of his ribcage. The blonde medic took a deep breath, and with an authoritative flick of her wrist, dismissed the nurse.

"What did you do this time?" she sighed, almost tiredly. It had been a long day, beginning with a few hours in the flower shop, a shift at the hospital, lunch with Shikamaru, and Chouji, and then appointments with clients in the afternoon. Then she was about to leave for the day for some much deserved R&R, when the receptionist of her office building rang and told her that Sai was in the hospital with a relatively serious wound.

"You look…" Sai trailed off, and Ino could practically hear him counting to five in his head, "Tired."

It was a coping mechanism they were using to keep him from saying anything rude or inappropriate. In the five seconds before he said something, he would think to himself: "Would Ino or Sakura punch me if I said this?" If the answer was yes, then he had to think of a more tactful way of speaking his opinion before offering it.

His success made a small smile appear on her lips before she stepped forward and pulled up his arm so she could get better access to his wound.

"I am tired," she conceded. "How did you get hurt?"

"A Sound shinobi who was very adept at using a curved sword," Sai explained. "It bent in a way I wasn't prepared for."

Ino grimaced as she finished applying the sterilizing alcohol to his stomach and ribs. Focusing on the wound so she wouldn't become distracted by his half naked body, Ino closed her eyes and ran her glowing hand over the wound on the first pass. Unlike Sakura, who only had to pass over a wound once to completely heal it, Ino had to do it in layers. In fact, most medical ninja had to do it in layers. First, the arteries, veins, ligaments, and blood vessels, then the muscle tissue, and finally, Ino knit together the skin.

However, her closed eyes heighted her other senses, and his masculine scent began to pervade her nose. He smelled like the forest and like the oils that were in his ink. Sometimes, after he had been painting for a long time, she swore she could smell the canvas on him. Then there was the other, indefinable scent – his scent. It was fresh, like rainwater, something pure and untouched. Ino's was dizzy, her breath becoming shallow as she finished up, inspecting her work.

"Are you…smelling me?" Sai suddenly said. His chest rose up and down under her hands as he breathed out his question. Instead of being fake, or mocking, there was a certain breathiness to his voice that she had never heard before. "They say that pheromones are what attracts us to other human beings."

Pulling back, Ino scowled at him as her blush roe from the back of her neck all the way to the roots of her hair.

"No!" she denied vehemently before going to swat him in the head, but he blocked the shot and stood up. Now they were close, almost toe-to-toe, but Ino couldn't convince herself to take a step back. "I was breathing deeply because I'm tired."

"You should not work so hard," he countered easily. Somehow, it seemed that he got even closer, if that were possible.

"Don't worry about me," she retorted, but her voice was lower. His black, inky eyes were concentrating hard on her, making her feel self-conscious about every move she made. "It's you that's concerning, you know! You keep ending up in the hospital."

"I am concerned about you, regardless of how much I'm in the hospital," he retorted quickly, which unnerved Ino. If he replied quickly, it meant that he wasn't thinking, just responding with what he felt. "You are my…friend."

There was a pause before friend, a meaningful one, she was sure.

The air had shifted between them. Something was different this time, as her breath came out in shallow pants rather than her normal even breathing. This wasn't like the other times that they had flirted, whether he knew it was flirting or not. No, there was nothing innocent about the way he was looking at her, with a questioning gleam in his eye. And the way she had been thinking about him the past few months was far from innocent.

Somehow, they were even closer than before. Sai wasn't much taller than Shikamaru, so her nose was right at his chin when she looked up at him. He seemed to be leaning down to, towards her, because their noses were mere centimeters apart.

"Friend?" she repeated quietly. As she breathed this word, she felt pressure just above her hip. She didn't need to look to know it was his hand – large like a man's but delicate like an artist's – resting lightly on the dip in her figure.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

Three inopportune raps at the door had Ino pulling back and Sai sitting back down on the hospital exam table faster than Kakashi could disappear when he was in trouble with the Hokage. Ino turned to go to the door to cover Sai's half naked frame, and Sai just sat there with his hazy eyes following her, filled with confusion and maybe a little bit of arousal.

Ino, figuring it was a nurse, cracked the door and popped her head out, ready to berate whoever interrupted a procedure. The words died on her lips when a shadow overtook her, and her mouth hung rather loose on its hinges. No, it wasn't a stout nurse standing at the door, but a placid looking Uchiha Itachi watching her with intensity under his charcoal lashes.

"Yamanaka-san," he greeted quietly.

Ino finally managed to pull her mouth up and gave him a confused look. Trying not sound irritated, she asked "Uchiha-san, nice to see you. What can I help you with? I'm in the middle of a healing procedure."

Itachi nodded his head at her, and replied, "I apologize for my interruption. I am looking for Haruno Sakura, and the receptionist mentioned she may be in this room because Sai-san was being healed."

Cocking her head to the side, Ino considered this information, but to her surprise, it was Sai who spoke up.

"Sakura is at the Akimichi ice cream stand with her genin at the north end of the shopping district," he told the oldest Uchiha brother. "She just returned from a mission with her genin team."

Itachi blinked a few times, gazing between Sai and Ino was a distinctly uncomfortable intensity. What was only a few seconds felt like several minutes of scrutiny, and Ino took a step back unconsciously from the Uchiha. Finally, Itachi nodded his head and thanked them for the information, and closed with apologizing again for interrupting them. Then, like he had never been there, Uchiha Itachi vanished like a wraith.

Ino took a step back and closed the door, her head feeling light and confused all at once. When she finally turned around and saw Sai sitting there with her thoughtful look on his face. There was a rather poignant silence between them for a few moments when Sai finally stood up and pulled his shirt on even though his bare, recently healed torso was still bare. In a few strides, he was in front of her again.

Ino's breath caught a little, waiting to see what he would do; however, she was sorely disappointed when all he did was slip past her to the door.

"Go home and get some rest," he told her before shutting it behind him. With a deep sigh, Ino fell against the door and put her hands on her head.

What a weird freaking day.

X

Sakura arrived at the ice cream stand just moments before her genin came running around the corner. Smiling at them mischievously, despite her inner turmoil from her run-in with Team Seven, Sakura gave a little victory sign.

"Not fair, sensei!" Ryouichi complained. Chouko and Katsurou voiced their own discontent with affirmative cries. Sakura let out a generous laugh, genuinely amused with their antics. She found a sense of pride with her genin, and an inner peace with them – like being their sensei was the right thing to do.

So even though she technically won the race, she bought them all double scoops of the ice cream of their choice – they had earned it. The four of them sat at a small park just next to the downtown area, enjoying the spray of a nearby fountain in a lake and munching on the best homemade ice cream that Konoha had to offer. Her genin performed their usual antics – Ryouichi and Katsurou fought constantly, bickering and begging Chouko for help. Said purple-haired genin pointedly ignored them, focusing on the sun on her face and the large clouds in the sky as well.

Laying back on elbows after she finished her ice cream cone, Sakura bathed in the warmth of the hot sun and reveled in the wind spraying the water lightly onto her face. Then, suddenly, the bickering of her genin faded out, and before Sakura could peak her eye open to see what had caused the uncharacteristic silence, a shadow fell over her.

Her eyes opened quickly to see the dark heir to the Uchiha clan standing over her head, looking down at her from behind the high collar of his black, short sleeved shirt. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, she wiped her back to rid it of any stray particles of plant life, and finally lifted herself to her feet. Her genin were gazing at Itachi with reserved wariness – smart kids. Before she addressed her new senpai, she turned to her genin.

"Alright you three, social hour is over. I will see you in two days at daybreak for training," she commanded in a tone that broached no room for argument. Not they needed any convincing; the last thing they needed was a reason to escape the shadow of the intimidating Uchiha.

"Bye sensei!"

"See you later."

"Have a good day, sensei…Itachi-sama."

With her three genin out of the picture, Sakura turned to Itachi and offered him a small smile. From the limited amount of times that she had been alone with Itachi, Sakura figured out a few things about him:

He wasn't unkind, just silent unless absolutely necessary. Most of his affirmative or negative answers were with shakes of his head.

Going off of this, Itachi was completely socially awkward, mostly due to his quiet, reserved nature. Sakura wasn't aware of his past, but he knew that his father was incredibly authoritarian and had essentially forced Itachi into ANBU before most of his classmates had taken their first chuunin exams.

He was arrogant to an extent, but not any less or more than other Uchihas that she had worked with. He has good reasons to have confidence in his skills, as he was one of the most well-known shinobi in the five nations.

All of this knowledge made her a little curious about the enigmatic Uchiha. She had never heard of him being unkind to anyone, and many shinobi who had worked under him on missions have spoken incredibly well of him. But contrary to this, he was incredibly introverted and could kill most shinobi with the flick of a finger. It was all very contradictory but very intriguing all at once.

Her internal musings were cut short when he brought attention to the large manila envelope in his hand, holding it out to her. Sakura took the heavy pieces of paper from his hand and undid the seal, pulling it out to examine them.

"Forms?" she thought out loud. Itachi nodded.

"They are very detailed forms – you may find them a little…intrusive. I will not see them. It is imperative that you answer them honestly. You will also have to undergo a physical and have a senior member of the medical staff approve it – besides yourself," he told her evenly. Sakura nodded and murmured assent.

"I have spoken with Tsunade-sama about your shifts at the hospital and your schedule with your genin team," Itachi continued. Sakura seemed to bristle at his meddling. "You will be able to keep both; however, your training with me will need time."

Sakura huffed but nodded. "I had planned for that. I'll be working in the research lab at work instead of the floor unless there's an emergency incoming. It will allow for steadier hours – 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. every other day, three days a week."

"Very good. Plan on having your genin in the mornings on those days and one of your days off," he told her seriously. "I will require the full other three days and the evenings on the days you work at the hospital."

Sakura took a deep breath. That was a lot of training – leaving very little time for anything else in her life. It would be busy…but she could do it.

Squaring her shoulders and setting her jaw, Sakura nodded at Itachi.

"When do we start?"

"Tomorrow morning at dawn – ANBU training ground 45."

* * *

Author's note: please review! Tell me what you think about:

\- What Itachi's first day of training will include.

\- The scene between Ino and Sai.

\- So now you know _what_ happened between Team Seven and Sakura, but the big question is how and why. Thoughts?

Leave them reviews :)


	3. Ghosts

**Author's Note:** Whaaaaat? Two chapters in one month, all while working 60+ hours a week. You're all lucky ducks. Enjoy!

* * *

 **Hummingbird**

 **Chapter 3: Ghosts**

* * *

" _There are ghosts everywhere. We carry them with us wherever we go."_ – _Jorah Mormont, A Clash of Kings_

* * *

"Well Sakura, you're not pregnant and you don't have any STI's," Tsunade announced with an amused lilt to her voice when she walked back into the hospital room that she had been examining her protégé in. Said kohai made a face at her mentor.

"Did you expect there to be, shishou?" the pinkette balked, a faint blush dusting her cheeks. For such a seasoned kunoichi, Sakura still got embarrassed by anything sexual that was said by her shishou, or anyone else, for that matter. Her mentor just gave her student a light smack on the head with her file for her cheekiness and embarrassment.

"No, of course not," she replied with a chuckle.

For the first time in a while, the Hokage was in a good mood. Her apprentice had shown up in her office after the Godaime had a terrible meeting with the council, promising a drink and some fun gambling if Tsunade would just do her physical for ANBU first. Of course, the honey-haired woman could not resist and was greatly looking forward to an evening of drinking and debauchery with her mischievous younger student. Hopefully Shizune didn't stop by the office to find the Hokage playing hooky early.

Flipping open the medical file that was resting lightly in her hand, Tsunade perused it carefully. "All of your labs look great, except your vitamin D is a bit low. Make sure you're getting more sunshine."

Sakura sniffed. "If only you'd let me out of this damned hospital."

Tsunade let out a hearty laugh. "Why do you think I chose you to take over that genin team? It's so you would get out of this place, you rotten child."

Sakura scoffed at the fact that her mentor called her a child, but their banter had no real heat to it. Motioning for the manila envelope that was sitting on the examination table behind Sakura, Tsunade took the file and pulled out the thick packet of papers that would need to be submitted to ANBU. Sakura tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear while she shifted restlessly in the itchy disposable paper hospital gown that left certain parts of her exposed for exams. She was unused to being on the receiving end of the hospital gown, and the lack of security that came along with being naked and weaponless made the emerald eyed kunoichi feel more vulnerable than she was comfortable with.

"What's with that, shishou?" Sakura asked, motioning to the thick, detailed packet of papers she was supposed to fill out before tomorrow – the packet that her new instructor had dropped off with her just that afternoon. The first page had been invasively personal, and she didn't even want to know what was further into the paperwork.

Sakura was looking down at her dark purple toenails – her sandals were lying forgotten on the other end of the room. Ino had grabbed her and forced her down for a pedicure before Sakura had left for her mission with her genin to the southern peninsula of Tea Country, and now the tips of her nails were chipping from the mission and the journey back.

"There are some really personal questions in there."

Tsunade was filling out her own portion of the medical report that Sakura would turn into the ANBU leadership, which was incredibly thorough, and looked up to look seriously at her bashful student. The easiness of their encounter before had shifted into something a little heavier, more awkward. The Godaime's mouth set in a grim line as her gaze intensified before she glanced back down at the portion that Sakura would have to fill out herself.

 _To the best of your ability, list any sexual partners you have had, how many times intercourse occurred, and the dates in which the intercourse occurred._

"Sakura…"

The younger kunoichi looked up steadily at her mentor, the woman who she trusted more than anything in the world – even more than her own mother sometimes, at least when it came to her career. Sakura set her jaw squarely. "I mean, I understand why this needs to be disclosed, but…"

"Sakura, you know the statistics," Tsunade tells her seriously. "Which is why –"

"Virgins are not allowed in ANBU," Sakura finished. Her attention went back to her plum colored toes. "I know. One in every thirty ANBU operatives are sexually assaulted at some point in their career, and one in fifteen is sent on a mission that requires the operative to use sexual intercourse for the mission. I do a lot of the workups myself."

Tsunade's face looked tense as she too diverted her attention elsewhere, this time to the gray Konoha evening. The sunshine had clouded over, the humidity creating a storm that was looming over the village.

"Sakura, I can tell from your pelvic that you aren't a virgin. Who have you slept with?"

Sakura sputtered. "I'm not discussing this with you!"

"I'll find out, you baka! I get all of these files!" her mentor scolded back, once again, with very little actual irritation in her voice. The heaviness in the air lifted, and both women were able to take a deep breath that abated the rest of the lingering anxiety. Sakura didn't look up from her restless feet. There were callouses on the edges of her toes from all the running she did and the rub of her new sandals.

"Shikamaru was the most recent. It was a short… relationship… just after that mission you sent us on a few months back," Sakura sighed. Peeking out from behind her bangs, Sakura saw her mentor's red face. She couldn't tell whether or not her shishou was angry, embarrassed, disappointed, or relieved. For all Sakura knew, she could be all of that combined into one. "And Sai…"

"Sai?" Tsunade repeated, disbelievingly. How did that tactless imbecile manage to get her intelligent student between the sheets? Then again, for all Tsunade knew, her apprentice could have been the on pursuing Sai. "That emotionally stunted numbskull? Does Ino know? I heard those two were getting cozy in the hospital room this afternoon."

Sakura's ears perked up at this, forgetting her own tortured embarrassment. "They were?"

This was too juicy of gossip to ignore, but Tsunade waved her off, expecting an answer to her own question first. Sakura's shoulders slumped. "Yes, I told Ino just after it happened. This was before they knew each other more than just in passing. He was…a comfort. After the thing with Team Seven. He wanted the experience, I wanted the warmth…and we were both drunk."

Tsunade's eyes softened a bit at this information – she understood. Recalling the events of her own past, Tsunade remembered the few times she would take comfort in a friend after Dan had died – most notably, Jiraiya (not that Tsunade would _ever_ admit that particular one-night stand out loud to _anyone_ , not even her younger apprentice).

"So Sai was your first?" Tsunade continued. This is when Sakura's face when from pink to tomato red. Tsunade sidled up to her apprentice with a wry, excited smile crossing her deceptively young face – now this was just juicy gossip. There was no real medical value to this conversation, but Tsunade needed to know who had taken her younger student's virginity to quietly seek retribution on the poor soul, no matter whom.

"No, Sai wasn't my first," Sakura said from behind her bangs. "But that's a…delicate situation. It would need to remain completely confidential. Things could get messy, politically speaking…"

Tsunade simply handed her student a pen and the forms, excitedly awaiting the new piece of information she was going to glean from the young kunoichi. Sakura knew she couldn't get out of this one. Taking in a deep breath, she wrote down the name of the boy (now a young man) who she slept with when she was barely sixteen – one time after a long mission.

"SUBAKU NO GAARA! HARUNO SAKURA, YOU SLEPT WITH THE KAZEKAGE?!"

The building seemed to shake under the shocked, irate voice of her shishou. Sakura could practically imagine all the nurses, doctors, and patients in the building, even the lab techs in the basement, stopping and looking around in confusion. So much for being confidential, Sakura thought sardonically.

Somewhere in Suna, the young Godaime Kazekage, who was having a pleasant spar with his brother after a hard day of work, sneezed twice in a row, hard.

X

ANBU training ground 45 was a gigantic field with a stream – which eventually joined with the Naka River – running through it at a lazy, slow pace. Tiny frogs jumped from the water and on to the small strip of dirt beach, squishing their pudgy bodies into the mud and coating their outermost layer of skin with the thick, wet earth. Tiny fish swam through the little pools made by the rocks, in and out and searching for bugs that had landed on the water to make a quick meal of.

The southernmost tip of the expansive training ground has four large oak trees that look to be more ancient than the village itself. This is where he finds her waiting for him – meditating under the smallest of all the trees, which, comparatively, could still hover over many of the artificially planted vegetation in the other training grounds. The sun has barely begun turning the sky pink, but the heavy clouds that had begun forming over the sky were still hanging lazily in the air, seemingly not wanting to move for the day.

The air around them was foggy and hazy, like he was walking through a cloud continuously. By the time he reached the dull beacon of pink from the entrance point on the western side, his clothes were soaked through, yet no rain had fallen from the sky.

His soggy sandals were drenched by the time he treaded through the ankle length grass to reach her. He was surprised to find her here before him – he had thought he had been early, but it seemed that his new kohai was just as prompt as he was. Unsurprisingly, she paid him no heed when he arrived. If it were him, he would not stop his meditation if a friend approached. Only an enemy getting near would pull him from his innermost thoughts.

So he chose to join her.

Usually he meditated in the evening before he slept for the night, but he would gladly join her in re-centering himself before their training began. This was new for him: with the exception of some new ANBU recruits that would occasionally be put into his custody for training, he had never taught before, and this was different. By the time ANBU operatives reached him for training, they were already finely developed and he would simply hone their skills further, working out their weak spots so they would be prepared for the missions they were about to take. However, in Sakura's case, he would be developing her skills from the beginning so she could eventually be successful in transitioning into ANBU. Not only would he be honing her skills, but he would be helping her develop as well.

His legs were already sliding him down next to her before he finished his thinking, and he took several deep breaths, sliding his eyes closed and focusing his energy.

He does not know how long they stay like this, quietly listening to each other's synchronized breathing and focusing their energies to better prepare for what the day will bring. At some point, he hears her stand up with practiced movements. A few paces away from him, she began going through a familiar series of kata – a series that will call forth energy at particular points in time that will help to regulate the energy flowing through her.

Her movements are graceful, in the sense that they are practiced, but the extensions of her arms and legs are more sharp and abrupt than when he does his kata. Her fighting style is less fluid and more forceful than his, but that is simply a difference in how they fight. It does not make how she executes the moves more or less correct than him.

By the way her body seems to move without her thought, it is clear that this is a ritual she practices. Chakra moves through her system in an even thrum, channeling itself into her limbs with each stretch she does the different movements. Suddenly, he almost feels guilty for interrupting it. She got here early to perform her daily routine in peace, something he could appreciate, and he felt as if he was disturbing that. He was glad she chose to ignore him and continue despite his presence.

After a few moments, Sakura stopped and took in a deep breath. Her eyes were sparkling and bright in the dark, foggy morning. Bringing her small, glove-clad hands together she bowed to him, and he reciprocated the action.

"It's been a while since I had a partner for my warm ups. My roommates rarely are up before me, and my genin don't find the value in evening out chakra flow yet," Sakura murmured, her quiet voice only punctuating the silence. Itachi inclined his head. Clapping her hands together once, she flashed a bright smile at him. "So, how does this work?" she asks, gesturing to the world around them, indicating their training, he believed.

Itachi stared at her intently for several awkward moments, contemplating her rapid shift in attitude – here it was again, her changing personalities. Similar to the time they met years ago on the northern border, when she had gone from medic to fierce warrior to irate kunoichi in a matter of minutes, he saw her attitude shift from calm to excited all in two seconds.

It was rather odd to him.

"For the next three sessions, I will gauge your current status," he replied. "Then we will make a plan to work on your weak points."

Sakura nodded and began jogging in place, a habit she had picked up from training with Rock Lee throughout the years, the excitement of a new challenge pumping her adrenaline up and getting her ready for the next step in her career. "Alright, where do we start?"

Taking a few steps back from her, he took an offensive stance. "Taijutsu."

"Weapons? Chakra?" Sakura asked with a gleam in her eye, calming her legs and bending her legs into a defensive stance to lower her center of gravity.

Itachi shook his head once, and then he was sprinting to her faster than she had ever seen anyone move in her entire life. Dancing backwards, she narrowly avoided a hit to her side. Doing a flip to the right to throw him off, she realized belatedly that his eyes had bled red and he was using his Sharingan. A wide grin spread across her face – it meant that he was taking this seriously.

Already, he was showing that he wasn't going to underestimate her, and she was grateful.

X

Sakura collapsed in a heap on her coach, sporting a bag of frozen vegetables that she placed gingerly on what she suspected were broken ribs while her other hand wiped the dribbles of blood that were running from her nose. Not wanting to make the trek to the hospital, she quietly wheezed, waiting for Ino to come home so the blonde could take care of her injuries. As she contemplated the past ten hours, Sakura came to one conclusion.

Uchiha Itachi was a sadist.

Never before in her life had she worked that hard. Thinking back, not even the Hokage had pushed her as hard and Itachi had for the better part of the day. He did not pull his punches, and he came at her with the intent to kill her with every one of his attacks. Surprisingly, she had made it out with relatively minor wounds, and had even gotten a good few hits on him herself. In fact, she was fairly certain that she had broken his cheek with one of her chakra-infused punches.

For the first five to six hours, they fought, alternating between who would be on offense and defense. No weapons were allowed, but they had chosen use chakra. Originally, he had told her she couldn't use her chakra to inflict harm, but then she countered with him using his Sharingan was an unfair advantage, then.

He allowed her to use her enhanced strength after that. However, up to that point, what he had been doing was child's play. When she began channeling chakra into her arms and legs to fight on even ground with him, Itachi had shown her exactly what it meant to be on the other side of his attacks, and that's when everything went downhill.

It also proved to her that she would likely never be on even ground with the ANBU captain.

 _But that didn't mean she wasn't going to damn well get as close as possible! Cha!_ Her inner self roared with fists raised high.

After breaking for lunch around 11, Itachi switched gears to weapons training. He began by testing her aim, summoning shadow clones to run around the field while he handed her a variety of weapons to use on the rapidly moving targets. While target practice had never been her strongest suit, she did fairly well and had hit most of her new mentor's shadow clones – it helped that after almost five hours of him beating on her, she was irritated with him and was more than happy to throw something sharp at him, even if it wasn't real.

However, making sure her aim was as sharp as possible had been a large part of her training with Tsunade, and then with Tenten and to a lesser extent, Mitarshi Anko after. As a medic, she needed to be able to help her teammates from a distance while she healed in the back, so she had taken it upon herself to work on her long distance aim for the past several years.

After target practice, they sparred with both weapons and chakra, which was when the training became very intense. Itachi wanted her to treat it like a real battle, like they were out to kill each other, and so she did, but so did he. This is when a kick from him likely broke several ribs and another gave her a bloody nose. But she did not take this all lying down, oh no. Sakura hit him once in the cheek and a rain of senbon had cut him up pretty well. She also caused him to sprain his ankle when she kicked the ground, resulting in a large fissure that made him lose his balance.

It had lasted several hours, until the sun, which had begun peeking through the clouds just after midday, was will into the western portion of the sky.

All in all, Sakura was pretty proud of herself, but she couldn't say the same for Itachi.

Reading the stoic Uchiha was impossible, so determining if he was impressed, or at least satisfied with her performance, was difficult. At the end of their rigorous training, he had simply offered to take her to the hospital, but she had declined, stating that she would have her roommate heal her. After he nodded and told her to meet him outside the south gate tomorrow after her hospital shift, he walked away quietly in the direction of the Uchiha district.

Taking her time to nurse her battered body while she limped home, Sakura began reflecting on the day and the implications all of this made for her future. Everything happened so fast, she reflected. In the matter of a few weeks, she had decided to take the next step in her career and join ANBU, which, to be honest, was not something she had contemplated in excess before. While she had given the notion of joining the elite ranks passing though throughout the years, it was never something she had truly put much stock in.

To her, ANBU was something very mysterious and very dangerous, which it was. But there was a certain amount of anonymity that went into being an ANBU operative, as you had to remain completely anonymous. Of course, there were people who she knew to be in ANBU at some point, like Itachi, Kakashi, and even Sai. But there were many shinobi who were ANBU that she may never suspect.

Pink hair didn't necessary scream inconspicuousness, Sakura thought wryly to herself.

But she had been chosen regardless, and for that, she was proud. Trying to smile, Sakura felt more blood dribble onto her lips, and she wiped it away with the collar of her shirt. Damn, where was Ino? She should have been home by now.

As if on cue, she heard the gate outside creak open, reminding her that she needed to replace the rusted hinges on her next day off…which was probably never.

Sakura's parents had saved up for almost her entire childhood so they could retire to a small civilian village in Waterfall Country – but they saved so hard for a purpose: to leave Sakura with their house so that she wouldn't have to pay for an apartment or buy her own home. Sakura had been deeply touched by her parents' desire to help her, and she was glad to take the house and what little was left of the payments from them if it meant getting to stay in her childhood home.

However, Sakura quickly discovered that living on her own was lonely and the kunoichi just wasn't cut out to live without some companionship, so for a small rental fee, both Ino and Tenten had moved in with her about three months prior, and her quiet home was filled with life once again, to Sakura's great joy. Sakura had taken the master suite – a larger bedroom and an attached bathroom, and Tenten and Ino took the two remaining upstairs bedrooms, and they shared the larger bathroom downstairs.

Sakura then had converted the downstairs den into a study for herself, and she was content with how her childhood home was becoming her own. Ino had even taken it upon herself to paint the shared rooms pretty hues of blue and gray, something that Sakura and Tenten had been appreciative of. Sakura's parents hadn't been bad designers, per se, but they did not have the stylish eye that the blonde haired beauty possessed.

The rent her friends paid actually covered the house payment, and they split the rest of the bills and chores. It was, so far, the perfect arrangement, and although there had been an adjustment period for them all, things were going fairly smoothly.

The protective seal on the door flashed blue, and then Sakura heard the telltale signs of Ino's bent key being forced into the doorknob. As three kunoichi with plenty of enemies of their own, the three young women had warded the house, and in fact, the entire property, against any unwanted company in case there was an attack. It would take a ninja the caliber of the Hokage to get through the multiple weapons traps, genjutsu, ninjutsu, and much, much more that the three had set up.

During the day, most of the wards were down, with the exception of the jutsu on the doors and windows, but one of the three always made sure to erect the rest before they fell asleep each evening.

Sakura heard a loud curse from the blonde, and she would have gotten up to let her in, but her breathing was coming harder and in shorter pants, meaning it was likely that at least one rib was broken and she could have punctured her lung, for all she knew. When the irritated mind-switch kunoichi forced her way into the door with a loud curse, she looked ready to berate Sakura for not having a new key made for her yet, when the tirade died on her lips the moment she saw her prone friend laying bludgeoned and battered on their ( _brand new!_ ) gray couch.

"Oi!" Ino exclaimed, dropping the files that were in the bag on her arm and kicking the door shut. Not bothering to lock or reseal the door, the aqua eyed female made her way to her friend quickly. "Did the Uchiha do this?" Ino hissed, removing the defrosting vegetables from Sakura's side to prod her ribs. Sakura grunted in pain and swatted Ino's intrusive fingers away.

"Let me look!" Ino reprimanded, placing glowing green palms over Sakura's ribs. She immediately went to fixing all of her friend's injuries, despite being low on chakra herself. For someone who liked to berate others for avoiding the hospital, Sakura really had called the kettle black this time. Ino fixed most of the wounds, but some of the more superficial ones were going to have to wait until the pinkette could gather the strength to heal herself. Ino had just finished a shift at the hospital, and her chakra reserves weren't what they could be, either.

"Bad day of training?" Ino finally huffed with a laugh at her beaten friend's expense, leaning back against the low coffee table that sat across from the couch.

Sakura found enough strength to flip Ino the bird, resulting in a laugh from her blonde roommate. Mustering what little strength she had left, Sakura tilted her head to peak one emerald eye from the confines of her heavily drooping eyelids to glare at the Yamanaka female.

"So," she murmured as slyly as she could. "I heard you were getting cozy with Sai in the exam rooms yesterday…"

Ino turned red, and this time, it was Sakura's turn to laugh.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Sorry for the bit of a transition chapter. Hope you liked it! Next chapter, you will get to see Itachi's interactions with his family, and we will introduce Shishui! Let me know your thoughts/feelings/predictions on:

1\. Sakura's sexual history *blushes*

2\. What you think Itachi's thoughts (which will be discussed in the next chapter) on Sakura's abilities.

3\. ...and I have nothing else for you, but give me a good song to listen to. My latest obsession has been anything by Amber Run.

Love you all!

MizukiYukiko


	4. A Bit of Luck

**Hummingbird**

 **Chapter 4: A Bit of Luck**

* * *

" _Any fool with a bit of luck can find himself born into power. But earning it for yourself, that takes work." – Lord Varys, Game of Thrones_

* * *

Behind the main building of the Konoha Hospital is a smaller, older building that has been one of the few to stand the test of time. It sits a mere ten meters or so from the more grandiose, newer hospital that had been erected under the short tenure of the Fourth Hokage. Faded brown brick forms the outermost layer of the rather shabby looking building, while thick tendrils of ivy wind from the base all the way up to the recently replaced roof (due to a collapse three years prior).

The windows, which only stay clear from ivy thanks to a determined maintenance staff, used to be barred before they were ripped from their places and disposed of, and there is still an underground tunnel that connects from the basement to the new hospital.

The building was formerly the Konoha prison, but under the fifth Hokage, had been rehabilitated into offices for medical professionals. Ever since the newer Konoha prison had been built under the regime of the Third, the second time he donned the red and white hat and robs, the building had sat, rotting and dilapidated, fallen into disuse.

The physicians in the newly refurbished building wished to open practices that were still affiliated with the main medical infrastructure of Konoha, but were set apart from the hustle and bustle of the Konoha Hospital.

This way, the hospital could focus on surgeries and more immediate injuries, while check-ups and more specialized doctors could meet with patients separately. This created more room for patients in the hospital and was part of Tsunade's overall goal to streamline the patients that were coming into their care, all while lowering the mortality rate.

Sakura and Ino had teamed up when they were barely seventeen to open their own little practice to deal with the physical and psychological aftereffects of missions. They had just become jounin and wanted to prove themselves in the medical community. Their young age had always been detrimental their reputations in the past as doctors, and while they were respected as medical ninja, the other physicians at the hospital were hard pressed to give the two young kunoichi much credit. So their budding practice became their main focus for almost an entire year before they chose to start branching out into other paths.

After several successive rotations in the psychiatric ward at the hospital, Ino chose to take her knowledge and incorporate her family's techniques to deal with the PTSD that their patients often suffered, while Sakura threw herself into treating reoccurring wounds that shinobi dealt with, with a focus on injuries and irritation to kekkai genkai. Their tiny corner of the building had two exam rooms – one set up for a medical exam and the other featured plush couches and a warm environment for Ino to work in, a small bathroom, and one office that Ino and Sakura shared.

It was cramped and they were going to have to expand at some point, but for now, the girls were just happy that their fellow shinobi trusted them enough to come to them when they needed help.

The tiny office, which had floor-ceiling file cabinets on two of the walls with two desks pushed together in the middle, was painted a dingy gray that had scuff marks all over the walls. Sakura was fairly certain this particular room had previously been used as a storage closet in the former penitentiary.

This is where Sakura sat around noon, quietly chomping on the rice balls that she had packed in her bento, waiting for her next patient to show up. The office door was open so she could hear anyone come in and out of the small waiting room that featured two old couches and a sign-in sheet, which they shared with an older doctor in the adjacent practice, a pediatrician.

She had spent the morning with her genin, working on chakra control. They had figured out running up trees fairly early on in their time together, so Sakura had brought them to the lake in one of the training grounds and showed them how to walk on water.

Chouko had the hardest time with it, and Sakura couldn't wait until she introduced more weapons training for the team so her little kunoichi could shine. Ryouichi was a natural genjutsu type, which led to easier chakra control, and Katsurou used his Sharingan while Sakura performed the tutorial, so he was able to replicate it very easily. Regardless of the two boy's natural affinity for chakra control, they still both fell into the water a few times before they got a handle on it. Chouko was still struggling, her shins often falling into the lake, when Sakura left them with Sai for the rest of the morning.

Sighing in a bit of frustration, Sakura ran her hand through her hair. Her only female genin was struggling, and Sakura could appreciate what Chouko was going through. Like Sakura had been, Chouko was physically weaker than her male teammates, but that was to be expected.

The plum-haired pre-teen just needed to find her niche, and then she would be able to gain some of her self-assurance back. Sakura just felt badly – she could see her confidence finally beginning to falter under the increased pressure of their training, and the fact that they were now preparing for the chuunin exams, which would take place in Lightning Country in less than three months.

Sakura took another sizable bite of her rice ball and wiped some of the stray particles off of her face with the back of her hand. Tapping her chin in thought, Sakura pushed her wheeled chair away from her desk and spun it around while she pondered the current state of her unit.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the bell that sat over the reception area door. The pink-haired kunoichi had been so far in thought that she jumped in shock at the sudden intrusion, despite the fact that she had been expecting her next patient.

Poking her head out of her office door, Sakura smiled.

"Neeeeeeeji," she sang at the stoic Hyuuga, whose eyes narrowed at her playfulness.

"Sakura," the ANBU member nodded while greeting his frequent doctor. He didn't even need to ask her what to do – he signed his name on the sheet that sat on a small end table in the corner and walked into her examination room.

Sakura pushed her chair back into place and grabbed her patient's file. Stepping out of her office, she noted that the door to Ino's office was still closed. The blonde had been in there with a female sexual assault kunoichi for the better part of the morning, and Sakura felt a pain run through her. What Ino did was not easy, and although her loud-mouthed best friend could be insensitive and blunt at times, she really was excellent at empathizing with their patients.

After washing her hands in the bathroom, Sakura took a breath and walked with a smile into the small exam room. Neji, the ever-model patient, had already jumped onto the exam table and was watching her with calculating ivory eyes, no emotion even making a hint of an appearance on his bland face. He'd really be so much more handsome if he'd just smile.

"Meh, meh, always so serious, Neji-chan." The Hyuuga completely stiffened at the familiarity in her voice, and the unwanted pet name. Very quickly, Sakura realized that her friend was in no mood to joke – not that he usually was, but sometimes he was less hostile to her mischievousness than he seemed to be today. Trying to distract him from his rising irritation, Sakura got down to business. "How's your pain been?"

The stoic Hyuuga simply stared at her for a few moments, apparently trying to find that words that best described the level of irritation his Byakugan was suffering. Growing tired of his nitpicking, Sakura pointed to a poster with ten cartoon faces on it, ranging from crying and in pain to a large, bright smile. "Point to the face, Neji-chan."

His eyes narrowed, and Sakura laughed. "Don't think too much about it. Just be honest. On a scale of one to ten?"

"Six," Neji finally muttered. Sakura's face twisted into a frown.

"Did you use it more this last mission you were on?" she asked, jotting down notes in Neji's file, trying, and failing, to hide her disapproval at the over usage. The dark-haired male nodded once, just the slightest dip of his head.

"Intelligence mission. My Byakugan was needed to get a head count and for extensive reconnaissance," Neji supplied. Sakura nodded, continuing to fill in information while he told her the amount of hours his Byakugan was activated. Brow furrowing in irritation at his lack of regard for his health, Sakura dropped the file on a nearby counter and washed her hands.

"You know the drill – lay back on the bed."

Neji complied, and soon Sakura's relaxing chakra was running through his eyes, soothing the inflamed nerves and healing some of the over usage. The Byakugan was not as damaging to the occipital nerve as the Sharingan is, but there is still a certain amount of irritation that occurs when they are overused.

To the surprise of the focusing doctor, Neji began to converse with her.

"So," he stated firmly but quietly under the soft hum of her chakra. "ANBU."

Sakura's chakra wavered and Neji's mouth turned downward and the sides of his eyes tightened – a grimace of pain. She must have hit a nerve with the green chakra that was coating her palms.

"You're not supposed to know about that, Neji-chan," the pinkette scolded without real heat. It shouldn't be that much of a surprise he knew that she was planning on joining their ranks. Neji used to work with Itachi a lot before the younger male had been made captain of his own ANBU squad. Plus, while everyone outside of ANBU was kept in the dark about their movements, that didn't mean there wasn't more candor within their ranks.

The image of Neji and Itachi drinking tea and gossiping about their fellow operatives flashed in her mind, and Sakura snorted. Neji opened one eye to peer up at her questioningly, but the medic just tapped her finger on his forehead so he would close it again. The ANBU lying beneath her fingers let out a long exhael, and Sakura suspected it would have been a scoff had she not just soothed a particularly inflamed nerve that would have been causing him a lot of pain.

After a few more moments of silence, Neji spoke again. "Uchiha-san will be a rigorous Taichou."

A grim smile came over her features. "I figured that out on the first day," Sakura replied quietly. "It's going to be difficult."

"It is. But if anyone could do it, you could," he told her seriously.

Touched by his kind words, Sakura blushed a little and was glad that he wasn't looking at her, or he would surely clam up if he realized the meaning behind the words he had just spoken. Neji rarely gave out compliments, and she knew that when he did, he meant them. He was never one to mince words, and never one to coddle emotions – an attribute she always appreciated.

Getting over her slight embarrassment, Sakura smiled and tapped him on the forehead again.

"Thanks Neji-chan."

"Sakura."

"Hm?"

"Quit calling me that insipid name."

Pause.

"Okay… Nekkun."

X

 _In through your nose, out through your mouth._ Sakura chanted the mantra to herself. Holding her hands above her head to allow her lungs to expand to full capacity, the pinkette panted hotly, the air hitting her lungs sharply. Her new mentor dropped down next to her, his black hair looking barely ruffled after the _five hundred_ laps they had just run around the village in the hot summer evening – with weights on their ankles and wrists, she might add.

He didn't even look like he was sweating.

"You," pant, "are" pant, pant, "a sadist."

The words came out in breathy groans, not in the harsh way she meant them. Doubling over, Sakura placed her hands on her bent knees, still gasping for breath as she tried to calm her lungs. Her heart was pounding hard in her chest, and she placed two fingers on the juncture between her neck and her jaw, gauging her heartbeat to make sure it wasn't dangerously fast. Once she deemed herself safe from having her heart rupture, she leaned back over, even further than before, her forearms resting on her thighs for support. Sheer willpower kept her from falling right over.

Itachi's facial expression didn't change from the impassive one he had on when he landed next to her gracefully, but she could swear he was amused. It was something about how the light hit his eyes – he was definitely not as bland as he liked to make himself out to be.

The older male didn't speak, but instead, he grasped her wrists that were still leaning against her legs in a lightning fast movement. The kunoichi gasped and went to lurch back, but his grip held strong. Pulling her hands back up above her head, Itachi released the grip and allowed his own hands to fall back by his sides.

"Keep your arms up," he commanded quietly.

After a few moments, he instructed Sakura to stretch, which she did. Their evening practice had consisted of stamina – one of her weaknesses, Itachi told her. It took her several minutes to be able to breathe normally. After her stretching, she lied back on the grass, allowing the soft summer breeze to be enjoyable again, instead of hot and miserable when she was running.

"What else do I need to work on, taichou?" Sakura asked. Itachi was sitting not far away, leaning against a tree and watching the sun dip behind the horizon line with his normal stoic face. In the one week – consisting of three full practice sessions and two shorter sessions – she had spent with him, she learned that she hated how blank his face could get. It was like he was a robot with a real person trapped inside, and she just wanted to see that person.

From the little glimpses she had gotten in her childhood when she was on a team with Sasuke, to meeting him over a year ago, to her short few days with him now, she could see that she may like the person beneath the mask – that they could be friends. But his constant introversion and lack of ability to communicate in more than a few words at a time was a barrier. Sakura was an extrovert by nature and enjoyed having people around her, enjoyed the company of others, and she felt that her strong personality may shutter Itachi more.

After several long moments, Sakura realized that she had been staring at the man, and he had been staring right back with deep black eyes. The tips of her ears and back of her neck felt hot for getting caught watching him so intently, so she turned away to look at the wispy clouds in the sky.

His voice cut through the silence, quiet yet succinct.

"You have many things to work on," he finally replied to her previous question, "First and foremost, your subtlety."

Snorting, and still blushing a bit, Sakura ripped a handful of grass out of the ground and threw it in a clump at him. Charcoal black eyes widened slightly in surprise and went back to her, blinking a few times as wisps of the dry grass fell down his hair and into his eyes. His face evened out after a mere moment, but it was still enough to make her burst out laughing. The stoic man next to her merely sighed in resignation – this was his life now.

They laid like that for a while, in a peaceful quiet as the sun finally disappeared behind the trees so only the last vestiges of pink and purple light kept them from the dark.

"I should go," Sakura finally said, pulling herself off of her back. She felt grimy and dirty from the long run that her and her mentor had just done, and a long, hot shower followed by a snuggle on the couch were in order. Itachi pulled himself up at the same time.

His dark eyes were gazing at her intently for several long minutes, and Sakura felt the natural blush that had just subsided arise again, just from his undivided attention. Then again, his eyes were penetrating and she felt as if he was looking deep inside her and seeing everything – her hopes, dreams, failures, lies, and very soul.

Although it had only been a moment or two, just long enough for her two take a few long breaths, it felt like longer. But Itachi eventually dipped his head once in acquiesce.

"You did well today," he finally stated. "I did not expect you to complete this exercise."

Sakura was about to protest his lack of faith in her abilities when he turned on his heel and walked off without a sound, or another word. Grumbling to herself, she set her way across the training ground for home.

Luckily, her house was on the fringes of town, closer to the training grounds than the hospital or Hokage tower, so it didn't take long for her to get back, despite the fact that she was practically dragging herself by the time she reached the rickety, faded white gate that circled the perimeter of her property.

After going through the motions of taking some of the wards around and on her home and unlocking the door, Sakura stepped into her lively house that was bursting with sound. It didn't surprise her to find Sai, Shikamaru, and Chouji all sitting on the fluffy gray couch that Ino had decided they needed when she first moved in. It was more uncommon to find the house empty than full of friends when she got home. The boys were eating snacks and watching a movie on the television that Sakura's parents had left them while the sound of clanging pots and pans came from the kitchen.

"Tenten's not cooking, is she?" Sakura asked the boys with a grimace. Shikamaru was the only one who bothered to draw his attention away from the TV to look at her intently.

"Ino and Neji are helping her," he replied. Sakura nodded.

"Okay, I'm going to go shower before dinner, then," Sakura told them, although Shikamaru was the only one paying half attention to what she said. Making her way to the stairs and willing herself up them, Sakura went into her bedroom and closed the door, toeing off her sandals and peeling off her sweaty clothes, not bothering to deposit them into the hamper. The water was warm and the pressure was good, and Sakura let out a long sigh when the first tendrils of warmth began to make their way down her shoulders and through her hair.

She was not surprised when she heard, from the other room, the sound of her bedroom door opening and closing quietly, or the soft thuds of clothes hitting the wooden floor. When the shower curtain opened and someone stepped in behind her, Sakura let out another sign and leaned back into the strong, naked chest of Shikamaru.

"At least you don't have broken bones, today," he commented gruffly, his fingers running along the sides of her arms to her shoulders. He took a minute to gently kneed the tense muscles there, and Sakura let out a long moan of approval, bending her head down so her friend…ish thing… could massage her after a long day's work. It didn't last long – after a few moments of his fingers digging deeply into her shoulders, Sakura turned around in his arms and stood on her toes so their lips could meet.

Although their relationship had ended months ago, Sakura still found herself drawn to Shikamaru. The shadow-nin liked to come of lazy and uninterested, but the two of them possessed a sexual chemistry that she had no found with her other partners, and she planned on banking on that – until he pulled his head out of his ass and realized that Temari was in love with him, of course. They were better off as friends, but she would enjoy his company in a more primal way.

His perfect fingers were now moving to her hair, tilting her head back, while another hand cupped her breast.

"Not too tired for another work out?" he teased after breaking their kiss to trail hot, open mouthed kisses down her jaw and her neck. Letting out a laugh, Sakura hitched her leg around his hip and pulled him closer, and he let out his own groan of approval.

"I think I can spare a little more energy," she replied with a laugh. "If you think you can keep up, that is."

When he hitched her legs around his waist and pushed her to the wall, Sakura let out another laugh, glad he was ready for a challenge.

After a romp in the shower and another, soaking wet in her bed, they dressed and made their way downstairs. At some point while they were busy upstairs, Lee had joined their little party and was helping set the large dining room table with eight places, along with Tenten, who seemed to have been exiled from the kitchen by Neji and Ino.

Said blonde was in the kitchen, dishing up hambagu steaks onto a plate and handing them to Neji, who in turn handed them to Sai to bring into the dining room. There was a large metal basin of rice and some sliced eggplant with sesame seeds on another serving plate. Sakura grabbed that herself and went to find a seat. Although she usually didn't sit at the head of the table, Lee forced her there ("This is your house, Sakura-san, and you should sit there!"), and then Tenten poured her a large glass of happoshu.

Soon she was joined with the rest of her friends at the table, Neji, Lee, and Shikamaru to her right, and Tenten, Chouji, and Ino to her left, Sai at the other end of the dark oak table.

Suddenly, inexplicably, Sakura felt so very alone, surrounded by her friends. But they really weren't _her_ friends, were they? Shikamaru and Chouji belonged to Ino, and Neji and Lee were here for Tenten. Of course, there was Sai, but judging by the way he was staring at Ino intently, he was here more for her than he was for Sakura at this point.

These were not her teammates, and they were not her friends originally. They _are_ her friends, and she loved them dearly, but not for the first time, she found herself wishing that things hadn't devolved between herself and the rest of Team Seven, that she wasn't forced to leave them the way that she had and break her bonds with them.

She could see it now – Sasuke and Naruto squeezed in at either side of her at the table. Naruto would be shoveling food into his mouth while talking loudly through it, Sasuke would call him disgusting, which would only rile the blond further. A deep, painful sadness washed through Sakura at that moment, tunneling within the pit of her stomach, and she felt her throat close and the familiar burn of tears behind her eyes. Coughing to clear her throat and blinking away the rebellious tears, Sakura faked a smile and took a long swig of her beer, while leaning over to tease Neji about something, she still felt painfully alone.

X

Pulling the shower curtain back, Itachi reached blindly for his towel on the rack and placed it over his head, rubbing it in and drying the long, tangling mess that was his hair. Now that he was home for a while, he would have to go to one of his aunties to have it cut. After taking a few minutes to dry himself and slip into a high-collared tunic and comfortable pants, he heard a firm knock at his bedroom door.

"Come in, Sasuke," he called to his younger brother, who popped his head into his older brother's room.

"Dinner is ready, Nii-san," Sasuke informed him. Itachi nodded and while tying his hair back into a loose ponytail after running his comb through it quickly, he followed his brother out the door. When he arrived downstairs, he found his father finishing setting the table while his mother brought out a bamboo basin with rice. She had enlisted Sasuke to bring in dinner, which was tonkatsu, shredded cabbage, and heaps of rice on their plates.

There was a bottle of fine plum wine sitting open on the table, which his father was now pouring into decent sized goblets, marking that his mother saw this as a special evening. It was uncommon for them all to have dinner together. His and Sasuke's schedules were usually packed with training and missions, while his father spent a few evenings a week with the elders of the Uchiha clan in meetings.

Sasuke was dishing out rice when his mother finally brought in the deep fried pork cutlets and the shredded cabbage, placing more than enough on each of their plates. After all the food was served and their father was seated, the boys finally took their seats and began eating.

His mother, whose hair was starting to gray around her face and whose age was starting to show in the crows feet marring the corners of her eyes, smiled at her family.

"It's been so nice to have you home, Itachi-kun," she told them all. "How was your day today?"

"Fine," Itachi replied shortly, but with no intent to sound cross. So, he explained further, "My kohai and I worked on their stamina today."

From his peripheral vision, Itachi saw his father's shoulders tense. "And I suppose you're still not going to tell us who you chose to teach instead of someone in your own family, your own clan?"

When his chichi-ue found out that Itachi had chosen an apprentice to teach, and out of the possible candidates, there were three Uchiha jounin, he had become incredibly angry with his eldest son. His father had seen it as a betrayal to the Uchiha clan for not selecting one of his own kin. For his own part, Itachi didn't understand how his father came to know about the program that Itachi was taking part in, as he had not been the one to tell him.

Letting out the smallest of breaths in exasperation, Itachi simply shook his head and took another bite of rice between his chopsticks and brought it to his thin lips. His silence only angered his father further.

"You are heir to this clan, and it is your duty to ensure that this clan has every opportunity –"

"Anata –" his mother tried to interject, but her soft voice was quickly overshadowed by his father's voice, which was growing in anger and in volume.

"…to grow and prosper as shinobi. This was the perfect opportunity for you to show that the Uchiha were a clan that could work through any hoops that the Hokage wants us to jump through—"

"Hoops?" Itachi questioned shortly, his voice deceptively calm.

And his mother wondered why Itachi took so many missions out of the country. It was this – his father's overbearing bigotry towards the current Hokage and the anger that it had not been given to him. Uchiha Fugaku had been one of the options to lead the Village Hidden in the Leaves, but the elders had thought, and rightly so, that it would give the Uchiha clan too much power. It had been the reason why _none_ of the clan leaders had been made Hokage.

Before his father could continue to speak, Itachi continued to speak. His mother and Sasuke, for their part, continued to eat in a quiet and tense silence. "You believe that these are tests that Hokage-sama has put in front of us? This is a way to lessen the mortality rates of our shinobi, of our brethren… of _our_ kin. You continue to search for power. Did what happen eleven years ago teach you nothing?"

The tension could be cut with a knife. Bringing up _that_ time in the Uchiha clan history was a very, very big _no-no_ in the walls of the clan holdings. Anger was practically dripping from his father, his face growing red and a vein on the side of his neck beginning to protrude. This was a volcano that Itachi was not interested in seeing erupt.

Clearing his throat lightly, Itachi stood up.

"Tempers are high. I will take a walk to clear my head." His mother's hand went up to stop him, but he, almost unperceptively, shook his head. Without another word, he swept out of the house and before he knew it, was walking down the path that leads to the Nakano River.

He followed the river upstream for several minutes. Cicadas were buzzing loudly in the long, marshy grasses, and he heard the quiet _ribbet_ s of frogs in the hot summer night. The sun had barely set behind the horizon, and the moon and stars were just beginning to shine in the evening. He had been walking at a leisurely pace for almost half an hour when he spotted a familiar beacon of pink sitting along the side of a small bend in the river ahead.

Now, with a purpose in mind, he made his way to his kohai. He noticed that she was in more comfortable clothes now – black shorts, a loose, long sleeved maroon shirt, and regular flip flops. When he approached her, she turned to him and gave him a small smile.

"Taichou,"she greeted quietly.

"Sakura-san," Itachi replied with a small nod.

"What brings you out here, Itachi-taichou?" she asked, voice soft, as if not to disturb the quiet hum of insects and animals.

"Clearing my head," he replied shortly, the image of his father's angry face flashing in his mind. And here, sitting in front of him, was the unwitting cause of his family's current feud. Then again, if it hadn't been this fight, then there would be another. At Sakura's questioning head tilt, he explained, "Family dinner."

An understanding glint lit up Sakura's emerald eyes, and she gave a little nod in understanding. Here face turned back to the lazily moving river, and she smiled a little to herself, as if telling herself her own little joke.

"And you, Sakura-san?" he asked her after a few moments of relaxed silence that often permeates their meetings. Sakura didn't even acknowledge that she heard him even though he knew that she did. It was another long moment before she responded.

"Have you even been sitting in a room full of people and felt completely alone?" Her voice waivered, as if she had debated asking the question, as if she was shy and nervous asking him something so personal.

"Yes," Itachi finally replied. "Often, in fact."

"Yeah…" Sakura trailed off. "I was having dinner with my friends, and I never felt so alone. There were so many people around the table… I guess I just figured if I was going to be all dark and broody and lonely, I would actually be alone so I didn't bring down the rest of my friends."

"Dark and broody?" Itachi asked, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

"Yeah, like you," she joked lightly. Itachi actually let out a little chuckle, making Sakura whip her head around to look at him as if he had sprouted three heads for laughing. Standing up next to him and dusting off blades of grass from the back of her shorts, she turned to look at him with an inscrutable gaze.

"You should smile and laugh more," she declared. "It's nice."

Before he could reply, a voice cut through the quiet night.

"Nii-san," Sasuke called for him as he walked around the bend that lead back to the Uchiha clan holdings. When his younger brother stepped around the corner and saw Sakura, his shoulders stiffened. Sakura stood up a little straighter and seemed tense herself. The charcoal eyes of his younger brother narrowed at Sakura, an acerbic insult seeming to be on the tip of his tongue.

 _Interesting._ Itachi thought. He had garnered from his interactions with Sakura that there was bad blood between the former teammates, but he had never seen it in person.

"Goodnight, Itachi-san," Sakura told him quietly. Itachi's dark eyes searched her for a moment before she gave him a small, clearly fake smile, turned on her heel, and walked back up the slope to the main road and towards her house.

"How do you know _her_?" Sasuke all but spat, his narrowed eyes shifting between Itachi and where Sakura had walked away. Itachi had been watching Sakura walk off tightly, so he turned around to face his seething otouto.

"We have worked together in the past, Sasuke. What grudge do you hold against the girl?" Itachi asked him, his own eyes narrowing slightly in contemplation.

"Nothing."

Itachi arched an eyebrow at him, but his stubborn younger brother was not revealing anything.

"Why did you come here, Sasuke?" Itachi asked.

"Chichi-ue has calmed down," Sasuke replied quickly. "Mother would like you to come home."

There was another long silence before Itachi nodded. "Alright Sasuke, let's go home."

* * *

Author's Note: Okay, I would like to explain why I still have Sakura sleeping with Shikamaru on a friends-with-benefits basis. I have this as part of the story because this is common, and it's okay. I'm a firm believer that a woman should be able to sleep with whoever she damn well pleases as long as she is practicing safety for her body and isn't hurting anyone else doing it. Sakura is a professional with friends, many jobs in and out of Konoha, and now added training. She doesn't have time for a relationship right now, and her busy, conflicting schedule will be a very big theme of this story.

I've had this chapter half written for a while, so I finished it up and cleaned it up a big. I hope you enjoyed it.

Also, I'm graduating college in 20 days!

Tell me what you think about:

1\. Sakura's job as a doctor.

2\. Her relationship with Shikamaru.

3\. Her growing relationship with Itachi.


	5. The Family Name

**Hummingbird**

 **Chapter 5: The Family Name**

* * *

" _It's the family name that lives on. It's all that lives on." – Tywin Lannister_

* * *

There was a hum to the air – soft, almost imperceptible. It couldn't be heard in the generic sense of the word. Chakra leaving the body didn't make a sound. It was more of a feeling that permeated the surrounding area. The intent of it made the difference. Killing intent could make the hair stand up on the back of the neck, healing chakra could be soothing, and there was so much more.

Sakura sensed frustration from her genin. Their little area was completely silent, but there was a buzz to the air. It was tense, discouraged.

"Damn it!" Ryouichi swore under his breath.

Sakura smiled a bit, cracking her eye open from her own meditation. Today, they were working on chakra control and patience. The squad could run up trees and walk on water, but they had trouble focusing for long periods of time on their chakra usage and control, and they could not stand on water and expel chakra from their hands at the same time without something going wrong.

At the beginning of today's meditation, she had placed three leaves on each of her students – one on the top of each head and one on each of their hands once they were in their meditative poses – legs crossed, hands on top of their knees. The instructions were simple: keep the leaves on your body using your chakra to hold them in place.

Katsurou had scoffed, said it'd be easy.

They began, and Sakura started her wind jutsu. It was just a lightest breeze to begin with, and Ryouichi was the first to have a leaf fall off, the one on the top of his head. Sakura quietly replaced it and then continued to move use her chakra to manipulate the wind around them. As the day continued, she watched as her genin continued to struggle, to lose the leaves that Sakura would then replace and begin again.

Her gusts were stronger now and continuously changing direction. Her eyes following the flicking of the leaves, the vibrations of her students' chakra as they clambered to keep the leaves attached to their bodies.

It was just before 9:30 in the morning – they had been doing this since dawn – and now, they were beginning to waiver. After their peak productivity and length of time between leaves falling, around 7 this morning, their concentration and length of time had only gone down.

When another leaf fell from Chouko's hand, Sakura sighed and ended the wind jutsu. She murmured, "That's enough for the day."

The leaves were thrown off of her students bodies. Ryouichi fell back and panted harshly; even Katsurou was out of breath. Chouko, to her eternal credit, took two deep breaths before forcing herself to breathe normally, to seem like the last four hours hadn't affected her at all.

"You three did well today."

"Sensei," Ryou whined. Sakura rolled her eyes, standing up to pat the dirt off of her. She had appointments with patients in less than half an hour. "When are we going to learn cool new jutsu?"

Sakura huffed out a sigh, not deigning to glance at her students as she continued to straighten her clothing. Rhetorically, she asked them, "Why would I teach you three new jutsu when you'll only be able to perform it twice in battle before completely depleting your chakra?"

Katsurou sneered. "That's an exaggeration. I can do my fireball technique five times before even feeling it."

Squinting her eyes menacingly, Sakura glared down her rebellious team. She stayed silent as her genins' eyes got wider and wider, and Sakura let out a little of her chakra in irritation, just to get her point across. But yelling at her genin team would not work, as she had come to discover over the months. She would have to motivate them another way.

"I will teach each of you a new jutsu in your natural elemental type when you can create two shadow clones on water and all of yours and your clones feet stay above the waterline for thirty minutes," Sakura stated with finality. There was a little cheer from Katsurou, as he was already very close to being able to do this, but Sakura wagged her finger at him. "You three are a team. No one learns a jutsu until all of you can, so _help each other_."

She stressed the last point by raising her voice a little, and with that, Sakura waved her genin off to practice for the remainder of the day, while she made her way out of the training grounds and down the roads of Konoha to the hospital. She had just enough time to stop in the medics lounge in the main building to shower and change into her medic's uniform before heading to the back building where her office was. Sai was already sitting in the waiting room of hers and Ino's little practice when she arrived, and she ushered him into her exam room with little fanfare.

"Did you show up early to see Ino before her 9:30 appointment?" Sakura questioned teasingly after shutting the door to her exam room. Sai stayed silent, looking at the ceiling, the exam table, his feet, anywhere he could except for Sakura. She let out a laugh.

"Alright, let's check out this old shoulder injury of yours. How has it been feeling?" Sakura asked, tugging on the hem of Sai's crop top, indicating for him to take it off. Three years earlier, Sai had taken a poisoned sword through his right shoulder blade. She remembered vividly how scared she had been – it had been her, Yamato, Sai, and another jounin named Kaito, on that mission. Sakura had already healed poisoned wounds for Kaito and herself, and her chakra stores were running low.

She had been able to get the poison out and wrap the wound until they made the trek back from Snow Country to Konoha, but the shoddy, incomplete healing job and the long wait before getting properly healed had left his shoulder stiff for a while and he required physical therapy and checkups to ensure it didn't get any worse. Sakura had felt guilty ever since, especially when she would see Sai rotate and rub his shoulder in discomfort. If she had been more careful and hadn't had to heal her own wound, Sai wouldn't have his injury today.

"We just returned from a mission up north. The cold air makes it stiff," Sai explained evenly. Sakura nodded and rotated his arm several times, watching his face carefully for signs of extreme discomfort. She had him do stretches with weights to loosen the muscles and warm them up. She then spent about twenty minutes healing some damage and removing some scar tissues.

"Make sure you do your stretches twice a day," Sakura instructed as she guided Sai out of the office. He seemed to stall, glancing every so often at Ino's closed door.

"Her patient has a standing appointment. It usually goes until at least 11," Sakura goaded. "Now do me a favor and check on my genin at the lake on training ground 5. They're working on summoning shadow clones and staying above water."

Sai, for all of his social ineptitude, seemed to enjoy working with Sakura's students, so he nodded eagerly and opened the door to begin his new task for the day. But he stalled for a moment when he saw who was waiting on the other side of the door. Glancing back at Sakura, Sai tilted his head to the side to study her for a short moment before giving her a fake smile and stepping around the person who was waiting to enter Sakura's exam room.

Hatake Kakashi stood where Sai was with a crinkle to his one visible eye, and Sakura felt her stomach drop a bit. Gulping her nervousness, she allowed a blank, emotionless smile to wipe away any concern that she may have had on her face.

"Kakashi-sen… Kakashi, what are you doing here?" she asked, trying to keep any tenseness from her voice, while also trying to ignore the slip of tongue she almost had. The man hadn't been her sensei in over three years, yet she still accidentally calling him that. Old habits die hard, she supposed.

"Ah, I set up an appointment with the receptionist that sits in the entryway of the building," Kakashi said offhandedly, with a wave of her hand. "You told me to come see you for my eye."

Ah, she had told him to do that, hadn't she? Cursing herself in her head, Sakura stood to the side to allow Kakashi into the exam room.

"You must be in high demand," her old sensei said with a jovial tone as he hopped onto the examination table. "I came in to set up an appointment two weeks ago and this was the first spot I could get."

Walking to the cabinets where she held supplies, Sakura opened one that held blank patient files. She tried to ignore the slight tremble to her fingers.

"It's because intake appointments take a full hour. I don't do too many of those anymore. After today, most of your appointments will be only a half hour, and those are much easier to come by," she explained, hoping that she held an air of professionalism.

Before turning back to face him, the kunoichi took a deep, calming breath before plastering her Doctor Smile on and turning back around to face her old teacher. She scrawled Hatake Kakashi on the top portion of the tab so she could locate it later with ease. She opened up to the first page where she would take all of his statistics. She weighed him, measured his height, and took his blood pressure and temperature with little fanfare. Her former sensei was a model patient, not making too much fuss about all the tests she ran.

It was when she went to draw blood that she realize the copy-nin was up to something, as he rolled up his sleeves and told her to pick her favorite vein. Sakura pursed her lips and just about threw the needle at him. Instead, she decided to play the game that her first teacher was playing – trying to outsmart Kakashi at a game he brought himself would prove futile. The medic bagged his blood sample and placed it in a sealed container to go to the main lab at the hospital later.

"Alright, now that the essentials are done, why don't we take a look at your Sharingan? I'm assuming that's why you're here?" Her voice lilted at the end, leaving the question open for her to answer.

"Ah yes, there is some blurriness, some double vision, when I use a particular version of it," Kakashi drawled. "Also, some bleeding."

If Sakura had been drinking anything, she probably would have spit it out. Disbelievingly, she asked in an almost whisper, "Bleeding? Your eye bleeds…and this is the first time you're seeking treatment for it?"

For the briefest of moments, she wished they were still familiar enough for her to grab him by the ear or something. When she had been a part of Team Seven, she would not hesitate to grind her chakra infused fist into his head until he realized the severity of what he was doing to himself. Instead, she pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger before shaking off her irritation with a deep sigh.

"Ah, well Hokage-sama knows that it has happened in the past." Kakashi lifted his hands in a placating gesture, just like he used to when he could feel her ire rising at him. Sakura scoffed and approached him.

"Lie down so can take a look," she ordered him seriously. After spending the better part of forty minutes using his chakra to probe his eye, Sakura retracted her chakra into her hands and took a deep breath. In order to get a better idea for her treatment plan, Sakura drew a rough sketch of an eyeball and some markings for the nerves behind it and circled the areas with the heaviest damage. She had spent a few minutes soothing the nerves to reduce inflammation, but there was a lot of damage.

"That's all for the day. You can see Takashi at the front desk to make a standing appointment. We can start next week," the doctor told him. Her former sensei was pulling his headband back over his eye.

"It feels better already, Sakura. Thank you," he replied. He looked ready to say something else when the bell rang in the main room and someone walked into the common room.

"Sakura-sensei?" a familiar voice called from the room. It was Takeshi, the Office Administrator that ran the building, including the reception desk at the front of the building.

Takashi never made it past genin after a serious fall while repairing a windmill on a D-class mission injured his left side irreparably, and Sakura had met him when he was running errands between departments at the hospital. His gait had a slight limp, and his left arm was bent at an awkward angle, but he was determined and very good with the doctors, nurses, and patients he came into contact with. She saw his organization and time management skills and suggested he be the Office Administrator at the new doctors' building. Tsunade agreed, and Takashi had taken to his position very well.

"Takeshi-kun?" Sakura poked her head out of the exam room door.

"I'm really sorry for interrupting your procedure, Sakura-sensei," Takeshi apologized, bowing a little. "But there has been a fire at a restaurant with mass injuries and all of the emergency doctors are in surgery already. More keep coming in."

Nodding her understanding, Sakura turned to look at Kakashi, who had heard the entire exchange. "I'll let you get to it, Sakura-chan."

Sakura locked the exam room door behind him before making her way to the hospital, ready to help as many patients as she could.

X

 _ **Five years earlier**_

 _She hadn't made the decision rashly. In fact, she had spent three days thinking it over before choosing this course of action. Later, her friends would tell her that she was making a mistake, that she did not know what she was asking for, but Sakura knew better._

 _She did not make this decision rashly._

 _Standing in front of the Hokage, Sakura looked out the windows behind the Godaime. Her mentor was rifling through her desk, looking for a particular scroll that was buried under a small mountain of paperwork, which somehow, never seemed to end._

" _Damn," Tsunade muttered. The offending scroll, a large one that had multiple sections, fell onto the floor with a thud. Tonton squealed, and the little clack of her hooves sounded as she picked the scroll up in her small mouth and ran it back around the desk to her master, dragging it behind her. The older woman took the scroll from her companion with a thanks and opened it._

 _It was one that Sakura had gone through for her already, making notes in her small, even handwriting, so that all the Godaime had to do was read through the summaries, make a decision, and sign off on the request. This one, in particular, came from the Godaime Kazekage._

" _You're 15, barely a chuunin, and this is an A-ranked mission. Why should I send you as opposed to a more senior shinobi?" Tsunade asked carefully, her honey-colored eyes analyzing the posture of her younger apprentice. The sharp emerald eyes of her junior student focused on her and hardened, her stance became stronger, shoulders pushed back to make herself look bigger, more confident, than she really was._

" _I just got back from an S-ranked mission in which I killed Akasuna no Sasori. I have proven myself," was the assertive reply. A small smile, a slight tilt upwards from the corners of her lips, formed on the older woman, which she hid behind her intertwined fingers that clasped together in front of her mouth._

 _Sakura continued formally, gaining more confidence and determination with each word that she spoke, "I also would like to continue treating the brother of the Godaime Kazekage, Kankuro, after he was infected with Sasori's poison. I was able to remove the poison and create an antidote, but it was complex. I would like the opportunity to study it and the after effects in greater detail. Additionally, the Kazekage_ died and came back _to life and I would like the chance to study –"_

" _Sakura." Tsunade's voice was quiet but clear. Snapping her mouth shut, the kunoichi in front of her straightened her back a bit more, standing at further attention._

" _I'm going to grant your request. However, this is a big decision. The mission will put you in Sunakagure for 3 months minimum with nobody that you know with the exception of the Kazekage and his siblings, and they will not have time to entertain you. It is a lot to ask someone at your rank and age," Tsunade explained quietly. When her prickly student looked ready to retort, she held her hands out in a placating manner to stop the rant before it began._

" _There is a supply envoy leaving for Suna in five days. I want you to give me a definite answer before then. If you still want to take this mission, it will be here for you."_

 _Sakura nodded her head once in acquiesce but did not make her way to the door, and she looked quite troubled for a moment, biting her lower lip between her fang teeth and irritating it. Tsunade's eyes narrowed._

" _Was there something else?"_

 _Furrowing her eye brows, Sakura looked down at the floor while she thought of what she wanted to say. In a rare demonstration of patience, her shishou waited in silence for her response._

" _When I return to Konoha, I would like to be removed permanently from Squad Seven," Sakura managed to get out quickly, nervously. The thin, blond eyebrows on Tsunade raised almost all the way to her hairline._

 _Sakura had been waiting for over two years for Naruto to return from his training with Jiriaya and Sasuke from his training with Kakashi. Even though they had only been out on one mission together as a team since the boys' return (one in which Gaara was captured by Sasori and Deidara from the Akatsuki, killed for his bijuu, and then rescued by aforementioned team and revived by Chiyo-sama), it seemed that Team Seven was working together well again. For a jounin, a chuunin, and two genin, the mission was a rousing success._

" _Your reason?"_

 _Thin fingers, wrapped in leather gloves to protect her hands from the chakra they expelled, clenched at Sakura's sides. Her jade eyes narrowed almost to slits, and that was when the Godaime noticed the anger rolling off of her apprentice; it was palpable._

" _I'm not thirteen anymore, and I don't need them to protect me. I have surpassed them in rank. They left me behind to train, not giving a rat's ass how it would make me feel, and then they came back and thought everything would be the same. Well, it's not. I'm not willing to let_ them _hold_ me _back anymore," Sakura practically growled. In a testament to her anger, the volume of her voice continued to climb. "If I stay on the same team as them, I will never advance. I will always be their shadow. I will always be the one left behind!"_

 _Breathing deeply, Sakura wiped away the stray tears that were forming in her stinging eyes with her forearm. When her eyes were cleared, she met Tsunade's stubbornly. It was something she had seen her teacher do for the last several years when the council tried to take her on – Sakura lifted her chin in defiance, almost challenging her mentor to argue with her._

 _A deep sigh, one filled with understanding and wisdom that Sakura one day hoped to know, escaped the lips of her mentor. The Godaime rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands, trying to clear up the wariness that was beginning to set it. She still had to get through so much paperwork!_

" _Very well. We don't have to decide right now. Give me your answer for your mission in a few days, and we can discuss your career path when we return," Tsunade decided. Giving her a wan smile, Sakura nodded her head once and turned to leave. After opening the door quietly and closing it behind her, she noticed someone else was in the hallway._

 _The familiar visage of her sensei leaning nonchalantly against the wall made her heart hammer in her chest a little harder than it should have. His orange book was out, and he gave off the impression that he was just waiting to meet with the Hokage. However, his lone black eye was glued to the page and not moving, and although he seemed relaxed, years of working with him allowed Sakura to see that his muscles were actually very tense._

 _Now certain that he had heard what she just said, Sakura debated between apologizing, crying, or punching him in the nose._ No _. She internally chided._ You're trying to prove that you're mature enough to go on a long term mission, and you don't owe him anything.

 _Throwing her head back, Sakura offered her former sensei a cursory glance, nodded at him, and made her way past him and down the stairs. After she emerged into the cold, late winter air of Konoha, she allowed herself a few shuddering breath and took another moment to wipe a few more stray tears that she wanted to pretend weren't there. Tugging her red coat tighter around her to fend off the early evening chill, Sakura took off down the street towards a familiar destination._

 _The young chuunin made her way through the streets of Konoha, dodging the civilians who were doing their pre-dinner shopping, to the flower shop, and she entered to find her blonde friend in a heated argument with her mother about something that was sure to be shallow and stupid on Ino's part._

" _Pig, leave your mother alone," Sakura commanded from the doorway. Ino looked ready to retort with something scathing, but her mother brought her hand over the back of her head. Ino winced, and Sakura gave her a grin that was none too sympathetic. Ino's mother, who was normally very collected and regal, gave Sakura an eye roll, making the pinkette laugh a bit._

" _I'll leave you two to talk. I have to go get some things from the market. Ino, you're in charge of the shop," her mother told her. Jutting her lower lip out, Ino was ready to whine, Sakura was sure of it. "If it gets busy, I'm sure Sakura-chan will help you."_

 _Nodding her head in agreement, Sakura waved to Yamanaka-san as she left the store. "What are you doing here anyway, Forehead," Ino asked, her cheek held in her hand as she slouched against the counter._

" _I just wanted to let you know that I'll be leaving for a while," Sakura murmured, rearranging some roses that were in water along one of the walls. Ino, while loud and brash and immature, understood Sakura's words for what they were. She would likely be the only one to understand the depth of Sakura's desire to get away from Konoha, away from Team Seven._

" _Hokage-sama gave you the Suna mission?" Ino confirmed, her cheek not leaving her hand, making her mouth scrunch up in a weird way. Sakura poked her in the cheek. Ino scowled, slapping her hand away._

" _Yeah."_

" _I'll miss you," was the honest reply._

" _I'll miss you too, Piggy."_

 _Sakura hung out at the flower shop, helping ring out customers and make basic bouquets while Ino made more elaborate pieces for the guests. After her mother returned from the market, Sakura bid the two goodbye and walked to her own home to give her parents the news that she would be leaving for at least three months, probably more._

 _Five days later found Sakura packing a large bag, stuffed with clothing that would be more fitting for Suna weather, into the back of a supply cart. Although it was winter, the days in Suna still peaked at 35 degrees Celsius. It had been impossible to find a store in Konoha with clothing that would be suited to the hotter weather, so Sakura bought bolts of white, tan, and pastel lightweight fabric and brought them to a seamstress, a middle age woman who had actually moved to Konoha from Suna. She had Sakura up and ready to go with a new wardrobe within a few days, which Sakura would be forever grateful for._

 _Hauling another bag filled with medical supplies onto the cart and watching as the old wood buckled and groaned under the weight, Sakura slung her backpack onto her shoulders. It had clothing and supplies that would last her the next week while they journeyed to the hidden village of Wind Country. Sakura's parents had said their goodbyes this morning, opting out of coming to see her off (her insistence, she didn't want to be embarrassed if her mother started to cry or something), and Tsunade had given her a lecture on Suna etiquette before crushing Sakura in a bear hug._

 _This was the longest she was going to be away from home in her career as a kunoichi, and she was doing it alone._

" _Hello Ugly."_

 _Almost alone._

 _Sakura could feel a vein in her forehead start to throb instantly, and she was sure that her blood pressure was rising. She had only known Sai for a few months – Naruto had returned a few weeks before Sasuke and Kakashi, so Sai had been placed on their team for a few missions, along with Yamato-taichou – and she was already done with his crap._

" _What they hell are you doing here, Sai?" Sakura growled, landing her hands on her hips._

" _I am escorting the caravan to Suna before heading south for my own mission," the emotionless wonder replied with a fake smile._ Great. _Sakura thought to herself_. I'm stuck with this guy for an entire week. _Sai quietly placed his own bag onto the cart that held their things. It was smaller than hers, as he would be out of Konoha for a much shorter period of time._

 _Sakura grunted in reply before hoisting herself to sit on an adjacent cart, one meant to hold the 10 or so people who would also be travelling to Suna on business. Most of them were famers who were going to be selling their crop in Suna. Sai also jumped onto the cart and took a seat a few spaces down from her, giving her a small amount of reprieve from his social ineptitude. As others began to join them, Sakura distracted herself by grasping the hands of small children and elderly to help them onto the wagon._

" _Wait, Sakura-chan!"_

 _Grimacing, Sakura turned to see Naruto running up to the carts, Sasuke trailing behind him at a slower pace, his onyx eyes dark and calculating._

" _Kakashi-sensei said that you're going to Suna?" he asked when he finally arrived; he was panting, like he had just run a great distance to get here. They had probably been at the training grounds on the other side of Konoha._

" _It's a mission," was the curt reply. Sasuke finally reached the cart, but he didn't say anything. Instead, his eyes landed on Sai and they narrowed. Sasuke did not like Sai._

" _But you're going to be gone for so long. We just got Team Seven back together again!" Naruto whined. His hands clasped the side of the card in front of him, giving off the impression that he was a kicked puppy. Sakura was not moved._

 _Up ahead, the leader of their group moved his horses onto the road and the caravan began taking off. The farmer who was driving their cart sat down on the seat and pulled up the reins. He turned around to give Naruto a gruff "get off, or yer gonna get ran over" and then faced forward._

 _Giving Naruto and Sasuke each a bland look, Sakura asked the rhetorical question, "It sucks, doesn't it?" Both of the boys looked at her with confusion. "Being the one left behind."_

 _The man driving cracked the reins, and slowly, the cart took off, leaving the two boys to shrink in the distance._

X

"You are going. You have a duty to this family."

Itachi kept his face stoic; his hands wanted to reflexively clench at his sides. Instead, he forced them to stay relaxed; his father could not know that his words were affecting him in any way. Treating him like he was still a teenager, though, was beginning to grate on his last nerve. The hounding had been relentless lately. Just more reason for him to get back to his ANBU squad and out onto missions again, Itachi thought bitterly.

"I have a duty to this village—"

"I have spoken with the Hokage already. She will be sending your apprentice on a mission while you were gone. You aren't getting out of this one, Itachi, and neither is Sasuke. You and Sasuke are going to go to this omiai*. Further insolence from you will result in severe repercussions," Fugaku stated.

The hardened gaze of the Uchiha leader landed on Sasuke, who had tried to make himself as unassuming as possible, and then darted to Itachi, who had fixed his own stare somewhere behind Fugaku. Finally, the Uchiha patriarch waved his hand in a shooing motion to get his sons out of his office, effectively ending the conversation.

Shisui was sitting at the kitchen table when they left Fugaku's office, trying to pretend like he hadn't been eavesdropping on the entire conversation they had. Mikoto was doing a much better job of looking like she too hadn't been listening in as she busied herself with heating up leftovers for dinner in a pot on the stove.

"Don't worry, Itachi. I'll be with you! And Fumiko-neechan will be coming to meet her new husband as well. There are others too…" Shisui's voice trailed off as Itachi walked passed him without making eye contact. The shoji door to the outside was slid open and shut without a sound, and Itachi was gone. Mikoto stopped stirring the stew she was heating, let out a little sigh, and continued to move the ladle in circles. Sasuke took a seat next to his cousin, pressing his face into his palms.

Irritated, Itachi made his way out of the clan compound and jumped into the trees. Looking at the sky, he suspected it would be just shy of seven at night, meaning he was late meeting Sakura. He quickly made his way through the sparse foliage towards the training grounds. Before he could reach their usual spot, however, he was alerted to her chakra in one of the genin area.

His footsteps were silent as he jumped over the gate and wandered into the woods that housed Training Ground Four, which her normal training spot for her genin. Unsurprisingly, she was there with one of her squad, the girl.

"Again," Sakura commanded. The girl was making seals with her hands slowly so Sakura could watch her carefully. "You're lacking intention. Your Ram seal isn't sharp enough. If you're going to be a shinobi, you must come at your opponent with the intent to kill. Every time."

The smaller kunoichi's brow furrowed in concentration as her hands began the seals anew. This time, they were sharper, more determined. It was a simple jutsu, one that required a moderate amount of control and an inclination to water jutsu, but it would serve the little kunoichi well in her chuunin exams.

"Water Style: Syrup Trap!" Chouko said, swiping her hand out as water began to materialize from her chakra and spread a few meters in diameter in front of her. "I did it!"

Her sensei dipped her fingers into the water and rubbed them between her pointer and thumb, testing the consistency. It was thick, just like syrup. Sakura gave her a smile and pat on the head. "You did. Now keep practicing, and you'll be able to make it even bigger and thicker. It will help stop your enemies in their tracks."

Chouko gave her sensei a dazzling smile and took off running in the direction of the village. Her steps faltered a moment when she saw Itachi standing off to the side, but the girl chose to keep running, leaving the training ground behind her. Turning his attention to his own apprentice, Itachi was unsurprised to see her already looking at him with a small smile on her face. He did not fail to notice the bags under her eyes and the way her shoulders seemed to slouch a bit.

Perhaps he would ask Tsunade to give Sakura a vacation while he was away instead of a mission. With even, measured footsteps, he made his way up the to pinkette.

"I will be leaving for a week the day after tomorrow. Our training will be put on hold until I return," he stated without greeting her. Tilting her head to the side, the medic studied him for a moment.

"What's wrong?" she asked. A little put off by her question, Itachi chose not to reply, wondering how she seemed to read his level of irritation. After waiting a moment in silence, Sakura let out a huff and turned on her heal, throwing her hands up in exasperation, as she began to walk away.

"Fine, be that way. You show up late all upset and won't even talk to me. No 'Hello, Sakura-san how are you?' Just blurting out statements and not responding to a simple question. Are we going to train tonight or not? I've had a long day and I want – "

"My father is forcing me to go to an omiai to meet a princess in Hot Springs Country."

Itachi had felt guilty for not responding to concern from Sakura, but he had not planned for his issue to actually come out of his mouth. However, it felt good, cathartic almost, to tell someone who was not of the clan his troubles. They seemed shallow compared to some things, but Itachi had been fighting an arranged marriage since his father first brought it up (when he was _thirteen_ ), and now that he turned 25, his prospect of avoiding one were looking bleaker.

The kunoichi stilled, turned back around with her mouth open like a fish out of water, and blinked a few times. "Oh," was all she managed to say.

"Indeed."

Sakura took short, quick steps back to him, looking rather guilty for her outburst. Worrying her lower lip between her teeth, she pushed her bangs out of her face. When they fell back, she pulled her hitai-ate off of her head, swiped her hair into a knot on the top of her head, and replaced the headband.

"I'm sorry. That's a hard one. There's not much I can say to make it better, though," she replied, tapping her chin with her forefinger and looking up at him with luminescent emerald eyes. They seemed to become brighter in the setting sunlight.

Itachi's shoulder moved, seeming to indicate a shrug on his part. "It is my duty as future leader of the clan."

Her response was an impressive scowl before her features smoothed over. "I'm not part of a clan, so I don't understand the pressure you're under. It must be difficult to be forced into something that you don't want."

Sakura's taichou let out a small exhale a breath, and his impeccable posture sagged a bit. Sakura could practically see the weight of the world on his shoulders, and she decided that they did not need to train tonight.

"Let's skip training tonight," she offered. "Come with me."

The Uchiha hesitated, but her insistent pestering finally got to him, so he followed her out of the training grounds and into the civilian section of Konoha. They reached a small house that was surrounded by a white picket fence. Sakura began flashing hand signs and taking down the protective jutsu that surrounded the home. Using a small silver key to open the door, Sakura moved to the side to allow him in. When he went to toe off his shoes, Sakura shook her head.

"Usually the house isn't empty," she explained. "But Tenten is on a mission and Ino is staying at her parents. Her dad had surgery a few days ago, and her mom has been running the flower shop by herself, so Ino's been helping out when she can."

Such inconsequential information would normally bore him, but Itachi found himself listening intently to the pinkette. Sakura made her way over to the refrigerator in the kitchen and popped it open. There was still a plate of onigiri and half a bottle of Koshu grape wine, which she grabbed and waved to Itachi. He was standing awkwardly in the middle of her darkening living room, looking around and taking in his surroundings.

"Follow me," she commanded again. Slipping out the back door into a small garden that she had worked to cultivate over the years, Sakura led Itachi to the back wall and used chakra to climb to the roof. He followed her silently and stood over her when she sat down on the shingles. Rolling her eyes, Sakura waved her hand next to her. "Sit down."

Folding his legs underneath him, Itachi took his place next to her. "What are we doing?"

Giving out a short laugh, Sakura unwrapped the plastic that covered the rice balls and pulled out the plastic cork from the wine bottle. "We're relaxing. You've had a stressful day, and I've had a stressful day. So we are going to have a nice night of wine and onigiri."

They were facing the setting sun, and the moon grew brighter with the stars as the sun dipped below the horizon. They ate and passed the wine bottle between them for the better part of the evening, until the moon was high in the sky and the summer air cooled. Sakura finally shivered, and the duo decided to call it a night. When Itachi went to leave, Sakura went downstairs with him to see him out. The gate closed behind him, and Itachi turned to see Sakura giving him a light wave. He allowed a small smile to lift his lips.

"Thank you."

* * *

AN:

( An _omiai_ is a ceremony/custom in which a man and woman are introduced to each other to consider marriage. It is not done as much now as it used to be. It is usually the beginning of an arranged marriage. )

I am no longer working a job where I have to work/commute 50 hours a week. Hopefully it will allow me to spend time writing.

I am now taking prompts for one shots, so send me quotes/inspirations/universes.

Thank you for sticking with me. Please review.

SSDGM


	6. Knitting by the Fire

Author's note: Warning – there is a lot of violence in this chapter. If you will be triggered by graphic death, don't read. This story is rated M for a reason.

* * *

 **Hummingbird**

 **Chapter 6: Knitting by the Fire**

* * *

" _I don't plan on knitting by the fire while men fight for me," – Lyanna Mormont_

* * *

The sun was peeking through the trees, falling into the open green space in shafts of light, dotting the wide, expansive pasture of lush green grass. The earth was baking under a blue sky, the sun hot and heavy, punishing to those underneath it. The air in Waterfall Country was humid and thick, as if a weight had settled over the world like an oppressive shroud.

To her eternal ire, the moisture in the air was making Sakura's shoulder-length pink hair poof and curl uncontrollably, so she pulled it back into a hair tie to let it languish and coil all it wanted. Taking a sip of her almost-too-sweet lemonade, the kunoichi leaned back in the chair that was sitting outside under a large maple tree and closed her eyes, thoroughly enjoying a few days of relaxation while her team completed their mission.

Her genin were repairing a roof, bickering incessantly, but she chose to ignore it.

"You look comfortable," said an amused voice above her. Cracking open one eye, Sakura grinned. Haruno Kizashi took a seat in the wooden chair next to her and set his own lemonade down on the end table they had in their front yard.

As it turned out, the mission that Tsunade had for Sakura while Itachi was at his omiai was from Konoha citizens who had retired to Waterfall Country, and they needed their roof repaired after a large summer storm had damaged many of the shingles. Thrilled at the chance to see her parents for the first time in a year, Sakura took the mission with a smile on her face and a bounce to her step. Not even her bickering genin could damper her mood.

The one and a half day walk had been pleasant, and Sakura had worked with Ryouichi on his ninjutsu when they stopped for breaks. After some work with herself and Sai, all three of her genin had met her chakra control requirement to learn a new jutsu for the chuunin exams, which were approaching rapidly. Chouko was coming along with her Syrup Water jutsu, and Sakura had decided to teach Ryouichi an earth jutsu, Flying Throwing Stones. Fire was not her forte, so she had not yet started with Katsurou.

 _Maybe Itachi-san will have suggestions_. Sakura thought to herself.

"It's been nice having you here," her father said, reclining back in his chair, breaking her from her internal musing. "Your mother has enjoyed your visit, too. It gets lonely when it's just us two."

Sakura grinned. "You're not getting your house back, if that's what you're after."

Breaking out in a boisterous laugh, Kizashi patted Sakura's knee. "You'd deny your own parents, the ones that raised you?" he joked.

"Well, I guess you can have it back, but Ino painted most of it powder blue and decorated it _very_ girly," Sakura replied, waggling her eye brows.

"I don't know who would hate that more: me or your mother."

"Probably mom," Sakura teased. Kizashi let out a noise of agreement.

"Senseiiiiiiii," whined Ryouichi from the roof of her parent's house. He had a hammer in his hand and was waving it about wildly. Sakura didn't know if Katsurou, who looked ready to kill his teammate, was more annoyed with the work they were doing or with Ryou. It was likely a combination of both. "It's hot. Could we have some lemonade?"

Pressing her index finger to her chin, considering, Sakura made a show of thinking it over, humming loud enough for her genin to hear her pondering. Kizashi let out another laugh, his shoulders shaking. "You're mean, Sakura-chan."

"Yeah, sensei, you're so cruel," Ryouichi moaned again from his place on the roof. He was sitting, cross legged, in a patch of sunlight. Shrugging, the sensei of the trio walked closer to the roof and, channeling chakra into her legs, hopped to the first level and then the second in two large leaps. She was sure Katsurou murmured something about her being a showoff under his breath, which she would be sure to address later during training.

Punishment would be swift and cruel.

The jounin took a few moments to look over the work that her genin had done and was quietly impressed. Because it was the house of their teacher's parents, they had worked extra hard to make sure their work was impeccable.

"Alright," she agreed. "You only have one little section left, so you can take a break and finish it up after lunch."

The three cheered and hopped off the roof before their trainer could change her mind and ran inside where Mebuki had been preparing a light lunch of pot stickers and sauce. Sakura and Kizashi followed the children in at a more sedate pace.

"It's great to hear noise in a house again," her father commented. Raising a shrewd eyebrow at her, he continued with a sly grin, "Maybe there will be grandchildren one day?"

Color flushed her cheeks, turning his daughter into a flustered tomato. "Daddddd," she whined, sounding like one of her genin, "I just turned twenty. There's plenty of time for _that_."

Kizashi and Mebuki both laughed and continued to tease Sakura along with her genin for the rest of the night.

Her young team finished their project, and after a day of simple relaxation, Sakura and her team departed the Haruno household with full bellies, and for Sakura, some tears in her eyes.

The group had spent the last day travelling and training, and after a night spent camping in the woods, they began their last half day's journey. After almost an entire week together, Katsurou and Ryouichi were at each other's throats, constantly picking at anything the other said. Poor Chouko was at her wit's end, constantly trying to be the peace keeper between the two. Sakura, having been in the middle of two barely-teenaged boys before, ignored them and focused on figuring out what gift to give Neji for his birthday – which would be less than a week after their return.

So the group spent the better part of the morning walking back to Konoha.

It was just as their path began to curve east, where the road that led to Waterfall Country would connect to the main North-South running thoroughfare to Konoha, that Sakura sensed them.

It was sudden.

They sprang up out of nowhere.

There was just the four of them, her and her team, and then twelve more chakras appeared as if from thin air, and they were on them.

"Get down!" Sakura yelled instinctively, and to the credit of her genin, they dropped without question.

Three squads of fully trained shinobi had them surrounded, all of them in faceless masks with no real insignia on them. The panic started in her stomach and bloomed to her entire body, but she quashed it. Chances were, like some of the squads that had come across the invading ninja before them, they would die here. Their odds were impossible; but she had been through impossible before, and it hadn't defeated her yet.

She wouldn't give up without a fight.

"Stick together and work on defending yourselves, _as a team_ ," she ordered her little group in a harsh, low voice, stressing the importance of her last point. "And if I yell out, you jump as high as you can."

"Hai!" the trio yelled in unison and soared away from her, giving her the berth she needed to fight freely, without worrying if her attacks could harm her allies. Her soft leather gloves were pulled out of her pouch quickly and slid comfortably over flexing, battle-worn fingers. Sharp jade eyes took stock of what was around her – eight of the twelve were circling her. Good – only four had gone after her genin. It was more than enough to kill them, but they could hold their own until she dealt with the two squads that were rapidly closing in.

With a burst of chakra and a "sharanno!" filled with conviction, the kunoichi drove her fist into the earth, lodging there and creating a massive fissure between her and five of her attackers. Turning on the three that were left on her side of the chasm, Sakura threw several exploding tags at one, which were easily deflected. Using this as a distraction, she launched into an attack, hitting the masked mystery shinobi square in the sternum, feeling the bone crack beneath her fingers. More chakra pulled from her fingers into the other's chest and into his lungs, shredding them to bits.

It would be a slow, painful way to die, suffocating and bleeding out internally, but Sakura had fought with many broken bones herself and couldn't risk him coming back to fight her later. This fight would be one to do the death for all who dared face her, so she watched with impassive eyes as he crumpled in front of her.

Letting loose some poison-tipped kunai, Sakura tried her best to strike the other two who were rushing her, but they ricocheted off of their drawn weapons. The kunoichi yanked her tanto from its sheath on her back.

"Fūton: Kazekiri no Jutsu," she yelled, slashing her blade through the air several times in rapid succession, and several blades of wind released from the power of her jutsu and hurled towards her enemies. The wind blade was strong enough to drop the first, tripping her up so she stumbled, but the second advanced on her quickly. Her blade met two kunai, crossed in front of her assailant. She pulled it back, only to unleash several attacks in quick succession.

The key to this fight would be to end them all quickly – if they drew out the battle, she would tire, and they would all die. Her opponent, a short stocky man, hurled several kunai at her, foolish in such a short range, which she deflected with her tanto, but then he was rushing her again with a barrage of attacks. However, she could tell that this close-quartered combat, which was necessary due to her position in front of him with the fissure behind him, was not his forte. The shinobi's attacks were weak, sloppy, and his slashing was done in a pattern.

Up, left, right, down. Up, left, right, down.

Once Sakura learned this pattern, she deflected it easily and then buried her weapon into her opponent's stomach in an upward thrust, twisting it several times before yanking it out, kicking his chest away so his limp, bleeding body fell into the wide, deep crevice behind him.

The five assailants who had been separated from their group because of her first attack were finally able to cross the gorge that she had created just as the kunoichi she had tripped with her wind jutsu pulled herself off of the ground with a clearly injured ankle. With no pity, Sakura flash-stepped in front of the woman, pushed chakra into her foot, and slammed it into her injured opponent's weakened ankle in a devastating kick, feeling the bone snap in her foot and reverberating in her leg, the attacker crying out shocked pain as she collapsed once again.

The pink-haired woman cut her opponent's throat deeply, blood splattering onto her killer's thighs and shins. Even if they had a healer on their squad, it would be no use.

Three down, nine to go, she counted.

Allowing her eyes to flicker to her genin, she saw that they were working together well. Chouko was using her Water Syrup jutsu to attempt to slow down their foes while Katsurou and Ryouichi attacked at random angles. Tamping down the longing to aid them, Sakura turned her focus back to the five adversaries that were closing in on her quickly.

They came at her with a volley of attacks, both ninjutsu and taijutsu, and they struck all at once, not allowing her a moment of respite.

A rock spike catapulted out of the ground beneath her feet; she pushed chakra into her legs to jump up in time to stop herself from being stabbed and saw many more spikes rise from the earth quickly so she couldn't make an easy run away from her position. Coming down on the tip and using a bit of chakra to keep her balance, Sakura released a volley of kunai that had razor sharp wire attached to the ends. Like a puppet master, Sakura looped the ends to her fingers and threw them at her opponents with more accuracy than she knew she had.

A giant, lumbering man with an axe took a swing at the pillar, and she jumped off of it, using chakra to hop through the small minefield of earth stakes that had risen. As she jumped, the pillars started to recede back into the earth, making her lose her balance. She fell into another one; luckily, it was blunted enough that it didn't pierce her skin, but the kunoichi took a hard hit to her side, cracking her ribs. An axe swung in a downward motion, and Sakura saw it at the last moment. It would have been a fatal blow, but she rolled out of the way at the last moment.

The earth shook the ground below her. Using her arms underneath her as leverage, she bounced up and swung her leg underneath her to knock down the hulking man. He was surprisingly nimble, though, and he was able to jump out of the way in time, but he was now midair with his defenses down. Sakura threw one of the kunai that was still attached to her fingers, and it hit him in the stomach. The poison on it was slow-moving, but it would eventually hinder his motor functions and paralyze him.

Her victory was short lived because the kunoichi who seemed to be adept at earth jutsu sent a rock flinging towards her head, which she jumped out of the way to avoid, but it ended up hitting her ankle. Landing on it, Sakura cursed at the pain. It was probably broken, but she couldn't heal it now. Her chakra would run too low eventually, and she could deal with it until the fight was over.

The battle continued on for several minutes, dodging attacks and firing off her own. Sakura had only been able to kill one more shinobi, a very quick ninja who happened to run right into one of her fists when she was aiming for the axe-man, who was amazingly still moving. His large stature may not be as affected by the poison as she was hoping.

Judging from her genin's chakra signatures, they were beginning to waiver. When a startled shriek reached her, Sakura turned to find Chouko falling out of the tree she had been standing in, landing in a crumpled heap on the earth floor.

That familiar, protective panic that had plagued her earlier rose within her again. They weren't going to last much longer like this.

Another loud cry erupted from her lips, and the only one of the Godaime Hokage's apprentices to inherit her master's strength hit the ground with enough force to cause the earth to tremble beneath her hands and splinter the ground, upsetting the balance of their remaining opponents. Jumping out of the way of the enduring four attackers, Sakura landed by her panting genin and began the hand signs – boar, dog, bird, monkey, ram. They would not have much time before they were under attack again.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu," she muttered. "Katsuka, Katsuki, Katsuko!"*

Three small slugs the size of her hands appeared. Whipping Katsuka down, she watched as her small summon attached to her sole female student. Chouko's chest was rising up and down, proving she was still alive, just unconscious. Sakura sighed with a bit of relief. "Katsuka, protective barrier!"

Ryouichi and Katsurou, who had almost attacked her on site when she had appeared next to them, also had slugs pressed onto them. From Sakura's judgement, Ryouichi was in much worse shape than Katsurou, so she handed Katsuko to the fledgling genjutsu expert.

"Ryouichi, you must go get help," she ordered in a sharp whisper. "The main road isn't too far from here. There will likely be others travelling. Find help!"

"What?!" Ryouichi cried, shocked. "How am I supposed to do that?! I need to stay with you!"

"This is you helping," Sakura replied quickly. "Katsuko, teleport!"

With a puff, her student was gone, leaving her with Katsurou. "I will hold them off the best I can, you get Chouko and _run_."

"But –"

" _You will not argue._ " Sakura had never heard her voice like that, as low and dangerous as it was just then – the growl of a protective momma lion. "Now _go_."

Turning to face where the remaining shinobi were approaching, Sakura jumped out of the tree.

X

As Itachi had expected, the omiai had been a boring, tedious affair. Itachi's prospective bride had been nice enough, but seemed kind of bland and bored with the proceedings. Her uninterested stare had continued to go out to the rock garden, where butterflies had begun swarming the area for their hatching season.

They had met for the first time in the tea room on the sprawling estate the Daimyo owned – a traditional structure with four different buildings for the main family, the extended family, the servants, and guest quarters, and of course, several private hot springs for the clan and visitors to use.

The journey had been a pleasant, albeit hot and humid one, winding up and down the mountains and into the valley where the village sat. The air was thick with a sulfuric smell, but it did not take away from the beauty of the countryside around them – the mountains and waterfalls that cascaded into the hot springs were lovely, and it put all members of their party in a peaceful mood.

After arriving and being greeted by the Daimyo and his wife, the present members of the Uchiha clan had been led to the guest building where they had spent the night lounging in the hot springs and prepared for the meeting the next day.

The three princesses of the Land of Hot Water were all lovely girls with long flowing dark brown hair and black eyes, and each one had been paired with a member of the Uchiha clan for the purpose of the omiai, although there was not much privacy with mothers from both families and the nakōdo* present. In fact, Itachi did not think he had said one private word to his match the entire two days they were at their Daimyo's estate in Yugakure, the capital village, which also doubled as their hidden village.

The younger of the princes, the Daimyo's fourth son (the man had seven children, altogether), had been there to greet Fumiko-neechan as well. This was Fumiko's third consultation with her match, and the purpose of their meeting was to start preparations for their wedding, so the Daimyo's wife and Fumiko's mother spent a good amount of time with the village elders choosing auspicious dates.

Their families were exchanging members in order to strengthen their bond – Fumiko would be living in Hot Springs Country, while the intent would be that (at least) one of the daughters would be moving to Konoha in the future to marry either Shisui, Itachi, or Sasuke. Luckily, it seemed that Fumiko, a second cousin of Itachi's that was two years his junior, seemed to get along well with her match. The duo had been exchanging letters for the better part of the year and spoke familiarly with each other, their heads bowed and small smiles playing on their lips during their exchanges.

Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the males of the Uchiha clan. It was obvious that the three of them were not interested in the ceremony, and two of the girls did not seem any more interested in them.

The eldest of the daughters, who was Shisui's match, stated blandly to him that she was in love with a shinobi of their village and would commit seppuku* before leaving (a little dramatic, in Itachi's opinion), Itachi's prospect was nice enough but did not seem fond of the idea of moving from her home either. The exception was Sasuke's potential match, who was barely seventeen and had fixated her hungry stare on Itachi the moment he had walked in the door and had barely spared a glance at Sasuke.

Overall, that day and the following were contentious and awkward, but the Uchiha clan left unscathed, with Itachi's mother promising the Daimyo's wife that they would be in further communication, and Fumiko set her wedding date for the following spring.

Choosing to head south and then cut west to take the more traveled main road to Konoha, the group was halfway through their journey when there was a loud _pop!,_ and then rustling in nearby leaves. The chakra was familiar to Itachi, which was why he did not immediately drop into defensive position like the rest of his family, preparing instinctually for battle at the foreign person rapidly approaching them.

A feeling of dark foreboding overcame him the moment Ryouichi burst through the brush with a frantic look on his face and a slug attached to his forehead protector. His eyes, wild and desperate, landed first on Sasuke and then slid to Itachi. As the only person who he was slightly familiar with, the genin ran to the elder of the brothers, who was motioning to his family to stand back up.

"Uchiha-san!" he exclaimed, his breath winded, "Our team was attacked! Sensei threw this slug on me and told me to find help! Quick, you have to help her or she's gonna die!"

Immediately, Itachi pulled the slug off of the panicked boy and set it on his hand. The little antennae on the creature began to twitch and then glow, and she pointed them towards the west. Without a second thought, Itachi took off in the indicated direction, and he could feel his family hot on his heels. He continuously watched as the antennae on the little slug shifted to show the direction he should be heading. In what felt like hours but was probably less than half an hour, Itachi began to feel multiple chakra signatures flaring ahead.

Ryouichi, who was being carried on Shisui's back, had spent the time running explaining that they had been walking back from their mission when, out of nowhere, a dozen chakra signatures had appeared and attacked the prone group of three genin and their sensei. The group approached the battle quickly, and while Itachi would usually stop to assess the situation, he knew that time was of the essence, so he burst into the (wo)man made clearing of fallen trees and broken ground –

…just in time to see Sakura push Katsurou out of the way of a thrusting sword, which then impaled her through the stomach.

X

Sakura had been impaled before.

She had been fifteen and in a fight against Sasori.

She had been seventeen and in a training incident with Tenten when they were both learning advanced kenjutsu together.

So the searing pain wasn't necessarily unfamiliar, but it was shocking. Her vision went black for a moment before stars burst behind her eyes, and she looked at the ugly, smirking face of the man who she was confronting. She had managed to dislodge his mask during their fight, but she wished she had allowed it to stay on. She didn't want this man's face to be the last thing she saw.

The long blade of the weapon had ripped through at least one of her kidneys, and she had already sustained damage to that area the last time she had been skewered like a shrimp during her battle with the Akatsuki. She wasn't sure if it was her imagination, but she could practically feel her heart pump blood through her body and out of the arteries and veins that had just been severed.

Katsurou had actually followed her directions and had grabbed his female teammate before running in the general eastern direction, and Sakura had followed, fending off the opposing group, throwing punches into the earth to slow them down. She knew that finding help was the only way they survived this, and she could only hope that she wasn't bringing death to whoever happened to be travelling the main road that day.

However, they had herded them into a trap, and Sakura realized too late that two of the group had disappeared to circle around the slower moving Konoha shinobi.

It all had happened so fast – just as fast as they had appeared in the first place.

Katsurou had placed Chouko on the ground to defend himself, but one of the attackers was already on him, his thick broadsword piercing towards his heart. Although he had Katsuki creating a protective barrier around him, a hit to the heart like that would not have been survivable by anyone less than the Godaime herself.

For Sakura, it hadn't been a choice. She had been going off pure instinct when she jumped through the air, pushed Katsurou down towards the ground, and felt the blade of the long, smooth sword.

Now, as she looked into the cold, almost amused eyes of her assassin, Sakura grit her teeth and grasped the hilt of the weapon with chakra laden fingers. The shinobi tried to yank his sword from her abdomen, but the fierce kunoichi wasn't having it. Already, she had felt the presence of their rescuers approaching, and she knew that her genin would survive.

But she would not go down without taking this rancid man with her. Using what little strength she had left, Sakura gripped the hilt with all her might and pulled herself down further onto the sword, closer to her killer. Metallic blood pooled in her mouth, and she spit it at him, spraying it onto his face.

His eyes shifted from amused to stunned _very_ quickly, and the woman who had just stabbed allowed herself a blood-filled grin of achievement. One blood-stained hand came off the hilt to grab his wrist in a bruising grip, while the other, small and ineffectual compared to him, leashed onto his throat. With the last of her chakra reserves, Sakura _squeezed_ and watched as his eyes bulged before her chakra ripped its way through his throat.

There were no external wounds, but his neck had been snapped; if that didn't kill him, then the chakra she used to sever his jugular would.

Her final opponent was dead, and she was dropped to the ground in an ungraceful tangle of blood and metal. Liquid, blood, was filling her lungs quickly as she shuttered some weak breaths out. The small group who had come to save her was dispatching the remainder of their enemies quickly, and it was with peace of mind that she closed her eyes, knowing that her team would live.

The sunlight hitting her bruised eyelids suddenly became dark, so the kunoichi allowed one bloodshot eye to open, only to find a slightly concerned looking Uchiha Itachi staring down at her.

 _Now_ , inner-Sakura yelled in the back of her mind. _That's not a bad sight to die to_.

* * *

AN:

 _* nakōdo: matchmaker; serves the role of a go-between for families in the omiai process._

 _* seppuku: is a form of Japanese ritual suicide by disembowelment; usually used by samurai to restore honor – our character in this story was being dramatic, as seppuku (or hara-kiri) would not really be a valid response to this situation_

 _* Katsuka, Katsuki, Katsuko: these three slug summons are my own creation. They do not appear in the anime/manga. I just didn't want you to go looking for them - I made them up!_

Please review! Reviews make me so much more excited to write.

Thank you for all of your support.

MizukiYukiko


	7. Dust

**Hummingbird**

 **Chapter 7: Dust**

* * *

" _All my life men like you've sneered at me, and all my life I've been knocking men like you into the dust." —Brienne of Tarth_

* * *

" _SENSEI!"_

" _Damn it, onii-san, let me GO!"_

Itachi watched – a knot of dread filling his gut and lungs, crushing his ability to breathe and speak – as Sakura's eyes blinked slowly a few times and finally closed, like the weight of her eyelids was just too much for her to take.

Blood pooled around her immobile figure as the blade still lodged in her abdomen shifted with each of her shallow breaths that were slowly getting weaker and further apart, shuttering out of her with diminishing force. Her mouth was filling with blood and bubbles appeared with each breath she exhaled.

Ryouichi was crying, sobs wracking his small and ineffectual form, while he begged for her to wake up and called out her title. Katsurou was still yelling at his older cousins to let them get closer to her. Itachi barely heard them – couldn't bear to listen to the heartbreaking wails of her genin. Instead, his attention was solely focused on the woman lying lifeless on the ground as she slowly died, and there wasn't anything he could do.

Itachi had seen his comrades die before; it was an inevitability of the lives they led. However, he hadn't experienced the death of a teammate until he had been inducted into ANBU, and their bodies would be destroyed before he could witness their end up close. This was a new experience, and for the first time, Itachi was at a loss.

Behind him, Ryouichi let out another devastated bawl over Katsurou's cursing. The two conscious genin were trying to get nearer, but Shisui was holding them at bay. Sasuke had left with Fumiko to patrol the area to ensure more enemies weren't nearby.

" _NO, SENSEI! WAKE UP!"_

"Move," The Uchiha heir heard above him and turned to see his mother forcing him out of the way with a determined look on her face, a frown turning down her lips, as her hand firmly guided him from where he was settled by Sakura's head. A little bewildered, Itachi acquiesced and shifted out of the way so he was closer to her knees.

His mother's hand rose above Sakura's face and in a motion so quick that not even Itachi, Sharingan activated, could see, came down across the face of the unconscious woman. _Slap_. When the pinkette didn't move, it reversed and the unconscious girl's face was forced in the opposite direction. _Slap_.

"Okaa-san…" Itachi started, his hand raised to stop her, but Fumiko's mother, Sachiko, placed her hand on his arm and pulled it back, shaking her head to dissuade him, her face grim.

"Haruno-san, you will wake up, right now." Mikoto's voice was very firm and very loud. Somewhere behind them, Ryouichi shouted at Mikoto, screaming at her to not hurt his sensei. Katsurou's cries joined his. Mikoto slapped Sakura again before twisting the girl's shoulders to the side. Digging her fingers into her mouth, Mikoto began to use her hand to scoop out the blood pooling in her throat. A few clots came out, and he heard someone, one of the genin, wretch and vomit behind them.

It worked. The younger kunoichi sputtered and coughed up more blood, taking in several gulping breaths before cracking her eyes open again the best she could. One was almost completely swollen shut.

"T-t-taichou?" she whispered, and Itachi exhaled breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. She must have thought his mother was him – he did take after her and their hair was the same length. Mikoto shook her head. "No, Haruno-san, it is Uchiha Mikoto."

"K-kat…Ryou…C-chou," she murmured in response, trying to twist her head to see her team. Itachi's mother placed her hand on the girl's chest to keep her in place to prevent further injury.

"They are all alive and safe, Haruno-san. Now, you must focus on me." The Uchiha matriarch's commanding voice snapped Sakura back to attention, her hazy green eyes concentrating on the older woman the best she could. "Now, did Hokage-sama ever have you form a Yin seal?" Sakura nodded slowly. "Will you have enough time to heal yourself with it? Do you have enough chakra?"

The Godaime's apprentice furrowed her brow in concentration for a moment, seeming to gauge her inner reserves. "'nough," was the choked reply. More blood was coming up her throat. "S'rvive. 'Nough to… home."

Mikoto smiled at her maternally before forcing her head to the side to allow her throat to drain again. Sakura coughed, heaving out more of the sticky read liquid, the thick clots dripping from her covered lips. When she turned back, Mikoto was stroking her face gently. "Very good, now tell me what to do."

Sakura's eyes, although milky and unfocused, had a matching determination to his mother, and for a moment, Itachi realized he may be over his head.

"Take. It. Out."

Itachi turned to see Shisui trying to push back Sakura's struggling genin. The exhausted pair were putting up quite the fight to be closer to their sensei, and Itachi finally managed to find his voice. This was not something they needed to see after the traumatic day they had already.

"Get them away from here," he ordered his cousin, who nodded resolutely in response. He finally took the initiative to wrap them up in wire, running around them in rapid circles to bind them together, before dragging them, kicking and screaming, to the other side of the clearing, where Chouko still lay alive, but unconscious, apparently having sustained a head injury.

Mikoto turned to him. "Itachi, hold down her legs. Sachiko-neesan, hold her shoulders. We can't risk her moving and causing more damage."

Once again, he was not given the chance to protest. He held his hands out and placed them on Sakura's knees firmly while his aunt had moved to the girl's torso and situated her hands on her shoulders. Mikoto stood up, and bracing her arms on the hilt of the broadsword, pulled it out in one fluid motion, it making a sickening _squelch_ as it was finally disinterred from the kunoichi's flesh and muscle.

Sakura let out a startled cry that was stifled and over before it even really began, her body going limp and her eyes closing. His mother tossed the sword to the side and was at the girl's head again, asking her what was next.

"Tiger," Sakura said in a low voice, eyes cracked and gazing at the clan matriarch, her hands lifting and shaking as they tried to move of their own volition into the proper seal. Mikoto grabbed her hands and intertwined her fingers to make the hand seal shape.

"Say the words, Sakura," Mikoto commanded. Sakura, who seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness again, opened her mouth but no words came out. There wasn't much blood left in her throat, but it was dark red from the force of her heaves and extent of her injuries.

Since Mikoto's hands were holding Sakura's in place, it was Sachiko who slapped Sakura again, coaxing her back into consciousness. Mikoto repeated her earlier order, this time, her Sharingan was spinning in her eyes as they locked with Sakura's jade ones, "Say the words."

"I-i-infūinnnnn…" Sakura stuttered. Securing eyes with the Uchiha matriarch, the kunoichi seemed to dredge up the strength from somewhere deep, somewhere he couldn't see, and set her jaw resolutely. "Infūin Byakugō no Jutsu… Kai!"

A purple rhombus darkened into view on the pinkette's forehead before four black lines streaked out from the sides and began to cover her face and body, crisscrossing over her head, neck, arms, and what he could see of her torso and legs. Glowing red engulfed her form and Itachi moved back to watch as the gaping wound on his kohai's abdomen began to heal. First the bleeding was slowly cauterized and the wound itself began to close. Her ankle, which had been at an odd angle, snapped back into place with a nauseating _pop_.

In the time her body was mending itself, Sasuke and Fumiko returned and announced the area was safe and their location as secure. They had set traps nearby to warn them of incoming intruders. Shisui released Sakura's two conscious genin and allowed them to run to her. They sat next to her, watching as her body was repaired by the chakra stored in her body.

After several minutes, the red glow began to flicker out of life and the intensity of the light faded. Sakura's body had been taught from the healing and, once the light receded from view completely, relaxed back on the ground. The winding seal markings faded from view slowly, receding back into the purple diamond that had stayed present on her brow.

Fumiko, who had basic medical training, grabbed Sakura's wrist.

"Her pulse is weak but steady," she announced. While Fumiko didn't have the chakra control that was required for medics, she was able to push some diagnostic chakra into the pinkette. "There doesn't seem to be any more internal bleeding. We'll have to be gentle with her, or we'll reopen the internal wounds."

His mother sighed softly, weariness seemingly overcoming her, but a triumphant smile blossomed on her face. "Let's get her to the Hokage. Itachi, please send a summon to the Godaime to inform her of our arrival."

Itachi did so, calling forth a raven that sped off in the direction of their hidden village, and allowed Shisui and his mother to help him prop Sakura onto his back, her body heavy with dead weight. Shisui was going to carry Ryouichi, while Sasuke took Katsurou, and Fumiko carried the unconscious girl on their backs.

With a nod to each other, the group of Leaf ninja, ranging in rank from genin to ANBU, took off in the direction of Konoha at breakneck speeds to get their battered companion home.

X

When Sakura woke, it was to violet hair in her eyes and nose, tickling her senses, and a dull ache permeating her entire body. She felt warm, like she was in a cocoon, and after trying to wriggle her hand up to remove the tickling hair, realized that it was partially trapped under something heavy.

Luckily, she knew where she was, knew she was safe, and against all odds, alive. She remembered everything about the fight in the woods, including multiple members of the Uchiha clan coming to her aid and forcing her to use the Yin seal.

Which would explain why she was so damn tired; she was exhausted – there was no chakra left in her body to speak of, and she had lost too much blood. All things considered, even with the aid of the seal, she was lucky to still be breathing. For all intents and purposes, she should be dead. Sucking in a deep breath and immediately regretting it – her ribs and abdomen screaming in protest – Sakura blew the gust out of her mouth and some of the hair shifted from her sight.

There was a small giggle from the other side of the room, and Shizune's face came into view. Sakura noticed the tears in her eyes that her senpai was quickly blinking away. The medic touched the pinkette's head with soft, caring fingers, and pushed the remainder of hair out of Sakura's face.

"They refused to leave you. We had to transfer you to a bariatric bed because the normal one wasn't big enough to fit you all, and they were going to smother you to death," she let out another ironic giggle. "Haruno Sakura, survives an attack by 12 enemy shinobi only to succumb to her clingy genin."

Sakura craned her neck to find her team asleep around her. The room was dark, so she assumed it was nighttime. Chouko, with a bandage wrapped around her head (explaining why the hair was sticking up at odd angles and falling into Sakura's face), had wrapped her small body around her left and pressed close to her side, Ryouichi was on her right but faced outward, and she could see the ebb and flow to Katsurou's deep, even breaths down by her feet. He was curled into a ball with a throw blanket placed over him. Her emerald eyes softened before tears pricked the corner of her eyes with unbidden emotion suddenly consuming her.

"I was so afraid," she croaked. Her voice was hoarse and scratchy, and her throat felt like overcooked meat. Shizune pat her head affectionately, her own tears finally leaking from her eyes.

"They were worried about you, but your Yin seal healed the life threatening damage. We took care of your ribs and some of the other more minor injuries – a broken wrist, a sprained ankle, a pretty severe concussion, and the cuts and bruises. Your throat was raw from the upheaval of blood, and we had to transfuse two units into you," Shizune explained, holding up her hands and ticking off her injuries. "You're going to be very sore for a while, and you'll probably be asleep more than you're awake for the next several days while your chakra and blood regenerate."

"How long was I out?" she asked and struggled not to vomit from the pain in her throat. Judging by how stiff her body was, it was a while.

"You were admitted to the hospital four days ago," her senpai replied. "You've had many visitors. These three refused to leave, so their parents have been taking turns bringing them food and clothes."

Sakura nodded and went to open her mouth, but the brunette shook her head. "You should try not to speak. I'll get you some water."

Shizune forced her to drink two warm glasses with honey and lemon before announcing that she would inform Tsunade that she had woken up, but the older medic didn't leave before upping Sakura's morphine drip to ease the discomfort. It wasn't long before Sakura was unconscious again.

The next time awareness found her, it was mid-morning the next day, and it was to a whispered-screaming match between her genin across the room.

"You leave, Kat-bastard!"

"You're the one with the mommy here to take you home, you wittle baby," was the hushed, yet strained, response.

"Willbothofyoupleasejustshutup!" Chouko hissed, trying to intercede.

"One more word out of any of you, and you'll be running laps around the training field for _hours_."

"Sensei!" All three practically _shrieked_ her title and were on her in a flash, Chouko jumping on the bed to hug her, causing her no small amount of discomfort, but she bore the pain, as not having the hug was so much worse. Ryouichi climbed onto the foot of the bed where Katsurou had been sleeping the night before, while the Uchiha boy stood off to the side.

"You're awake—"

"We were worried—"

"I'm sorry I got in your –"

"Quiet," she commands in a strained, rough voice, her emotions threatening to overwhelm her as more tears formed in her eyes, obscuring her vision of her three genin. For what seemed like the first time, all three followed her order immediately, waiting patiently for what she had to say. "I am so, so, so proud of you three."

There was a beat, and then two, of silence before Chouko started to cry, not even attempting to stifle her tears. Ryouichi wasn't far behind, although he worked hard not to vocalize his sobs, and even Katsurou rubbed his forearm across his eyes a few times.

After their sniffles subsided and her team gave her some more water to drink, they left her at her bidding. Their sensei had insisted, informing them that their parents had probably been just as worried about them as they had been about her and it was time to go home. They parted with the promise that they would return the next day.

The nurse came in not long after and gave Sakura a sponge bath. As embarrassing as it could be, it did feel good to be cleaned up a bit, as much as she could be with a catheter in place. She was told that if she got some more rest, she could have all of her tubes removed and sit up the next day; there was even the possibility that she could move from her bed to a chair.

By the time she was clean and changed into a fresh gown, Sakura was exhausted and asleep in no time.

The next morning, it was Tsunade she found in her room. Her shishou didn't say a word as she bustled from one end of the small space to the next, getting Sakura's medications prepared. The pinkette was able to move her arms and took the medicine and honey water with little complaint, her bed having been moved into an upright position so she could sit up.

All the while, her mentor didn't speak once, and the kohai of the two waited patiently for what she assumed would be the verbal beat down of the century. It never came. Instead, Tsunade pretended like she didn't have tears in her eyes when she wrapped the younger kunoichi in a hug that lasted long beyond what was normal. Then, she shook her several times by the shoulders, ignoring Sakura's bruised ribs.

"You _never_ scare me like that again."

Nodding, but both knowing it was a promise she may not be able to keep, Sakura smiled and patted her teacher's hand where it was resting on her shoulder. "Never again, shishou."

By the end of the day, Sakura could hold down solids and move from her bed to the bathroom by herself. She slept intermittently throughout the day and found her strength returning slowly. Although she still couldn't stand for more than a few moments and her attempts and showering were an utter failure, Tsunade promised she could leave the day after next if she promised to take it easy.

Both women knew recovering in one's own bed could do wonders for the healing process, and Sakura was eager to return to her home after being gone for nearly two weeks. Fortunately, Ino would be around to monitor her recovery, and Shizune promised to stop by the check on her as well.

Ino had visited with Sai after she left their practice that night and had given Sakura the verbal thrashing she had been preparing herself for. Sai, a small frown etched onto his face, leaned against the door with his arms over his chest and nodded his agreement with what the blonde was saying. Those two made quite the pair, Sakura thought wryly, while trying to keep her facial expression appropriately chastised. Like most of her conversations thus far, Ino ended it by crying into Sakura's chest and the pinkette patting her back soothingly.

Tenten came by after Ino's meltdown, having just returned from a mission and hearing the news, with a bowl of miso soup and a bowl of rice for her to eat ("Don't worry, I bought it on the way. No, I didn't make it myself") since hospital food was so unpalatable.

All four of them visited for a while, trying to avoid the topic of Sakura's near death, until Sakura let out a mighty yawn, allowing them all to laugh for the first time that day. Her three best friends left, and, once again, Sakura found herself shattered and was asleep before they turned off the light on their way out.

Sakura managed to shower the next day. It was quick and utilitarian, but it made her feel like a whole new person. Tsunade gave her permission to put on real clothes, so she dressed in comfortable black standard issue pants and a red tank top, hoping it would be cool enough to get her home as she was scheduled to leave the hospital later in the afternoon, Ino having cleared her calendar for the day to make sure she was settled properly.

Her genin spent the morning with her before being ushered out by Sai, who Sakura asked to work on some basic training with them so they wouldn't get rusty. When the ink master had arrived to collect her genin, he brought with him a basket with get well presents from Team Seven, mentioning how worried they were about her.

Trying not to scoff, Sakura opened the card they had sent first. There was a drawning of a cartoon frog on the front in a nurse's outfit, and there was a joke on the inside. Naruto had written her a scribbled note about her feeling better soon, and they had to get ramen sometime! He always had extra coupons and vouchers. Kakashi had drawn a doodle of, what she assumed was, Pakkun with a sad face and had also included a note about her feeling better. Sasuke and Sai had just signed their names.

Sakura pulled out two warm containers of ramen, miso and chicken; judging by the scents permeating the room, both seemed to be made with less spices than normal for her recovering stomach, meaning Naruto had requested a special batch be made. Kakashi had put in a new whetstone and some weapons polish, and Sasuke had picked up the latest issues of her two favorite magazines: Kunoichi Monthly and Five Nations Geographic.

There was also a perfectly red apple and a small knife in a sheath to cut it.

When the tears came, clutching the apple in her hand so hard it would probably bruise, Sai ruffled her hair and led her genin out of the room.

Ino stopped by on her lunch hour and brought Sakura dumplings and dipping sauce. Sakura had left the ramen in the basket; she would heat it up later for dinner. Tsunade still hadn't been by to discharge her, so Ino mentioned she had to run a few errands and would be back in within the hour to help her injured roommate home. The Godaime appeared not long after, signing her discharge papers but ordering that she stayed put until Ino returned to collect her.

Sitting on the chair next to her bed, Sakura hummed to herself and filled out her mission report, including details of her battle, all the while a frown marring her face as she relived the event. There was an unfamiliar, refined knock at the door, and the kunoichi almost fell out of her chair when Uchiha Mikoto walked in the door with a surly Uchiha Fugaku trailing behind her.

Sakura went to stand up and bow, but Mikoto gave her a stern look that had her sinking back into her chair before she could move her mission report off of her lap. She did so anyway, placing it on the side table, but she stayed seated.

"Uchiha-sama, Mikoto-sama," she greeted; her voice was pitched an octave too high in her nervousness. She suddenly felt very self-conscious of her hair, piled in an unattractive bun on top of her head, and her holey, stained comfort wear. It only took a moment for her mouth to snap shut and reason to come to her again. From her place sitting on the chair, Sakura gave a little bow the best she could. "I should thank you, Mikoto-sama, for saving my life."

The older woman offered a graceful smile filled with wisdom; she had always, for as long as Sakura could remember, been lovely and elegant. It was a stark contradiction to the forceful leader that had instructed her when she had been nearly unconscious on the battlefield just a few days past.

"You saved yourself, Sakura-chan. I only motivated you to do so," she replied with a glint to her eye. "We have actually come here to show you our gratitude, Haruno-san."

Mikoto and Fugaku both swept into formal bows, their knees and foreheads touching the ground for one (way, way too long, in Sakura's opinion) moment, before climbing back up in one fluid motion. Sakura was sure that her heart couldn't beat faster or her face turn redder from discomfort and embarrassment.

"I watched you sacrifice yourself to save one of our clan member, and for that, we are forever in your debt," the matriarch explained. Fugaku nodded.

"You have our eternal thanks, Haruno-san," he added in a gruff voice, echoing his wife's statements. The parents of all three of her genin had already been by yesterday to thank her, and that had been awkward enough. This…this was torture.

"Your thanks are welcome but unnecessary," Sakura insisted, waving her hands at them; she could feel her pulse beating in her face. "I was doing what any good sensei… any good teammate… would do."

Fugaku seemed to dismiss her reply without giving it any thought and countered, "You showed great bravery. You have our gratitude. If there is anything you should need, do not hesitate to come to the Uchiha clan for aid."

Letting a wobbly, unsure smile stretch across her face, she nodded, and realized that accepting graciously was the only way out of this conversation.

"Thank you. The offer is generous ( _and very open ended_ Inner Sakura thought evilly), and I accept your thanks, but my gratefulness towards you, Mikoto-sama, has not waivered. Your determination to wake me up and heal myself is the only reason I am still alive. So thank you," was the kunoichi's response, and she bowed again the best she could from her place sitting on the chair, keeping her forehead down a little longer this time. _Please, kami, let them leave_.

Mikoto smiled at her. "You are a remarkable woman, Haruno-san. There is always a place for you with the Uchiha, should you ever need it," she responded and bowed at the waist. Fugaku did the same.

Just as they turned to leave, there was another knock, but the newest guest did not wait to enter. Sakura could have cried with relief when Itachi walked in and eyed his parents with a curious wariness. Shisui, who she had never actually spoken to before, following close behind.

"Okaa-san, Otou-san," Itachi acknowledged with a dip to his head. Shisui greeted them as well with a little more formality, bowing a bit as he was welcomed by his uncle and aunt.

"Ah, Itachi-kun, what are you doing here?" Mikoto asked, another one of her secret filled smiles tugging at the corners of her lips.

"Ino-san had an emergency with a client," he stated, addressing Sakura. "She asked that we retrieve you and return you home safely."

They must have been harangued by the blonde, the young kunoichi thought sardonically, and it was very likely they weren't asked as much as forced. Sakura gave him a small, strained smile, but Itachi's attention was quickly pulled back to his mother.

"Ah, I didn't know you knew Sakura-san so well, Itachi-kun," his mother stated, but her tone lifted at the end, indicating she would like a reason for his relationship with the pinkette.

His father's attention seemed to hone in on him with startling intensity, and Itachi began to feel his defenses rise, preparing for another argument with the patriarch of his clan. Sakura cleared her throat from across the rom.

"My team helped Itachi-san on a mission a few years ago, so that's how we met…officially ( _not like Sasuke ever had the manners to properly introduce us_. Inner Sakura roared). I was teaching Katsurou jutsu, and I'm not good with fire. Tsunade-sama recommended I ask Itachi-san for help since he's been in the village recently, so he's helped me learn fire-based ninjutsu," Sakura clarified easily.

It wasn't exactly a lie – she had every intention of asking for Itachi's help to teach Katsurou; she just hadn't gotten around to it yet. Fugaku's distrustful stare eased fractionally, and he nodded, appearing to accept her explanation. Mikoto didn't look as convinced, but accepted the reasoning for what it was.

"Very good. Itachi, Shisui, make sure Sakura-chan gets home safely," the matriarch insisted before moving to the exit. She thanked Sakura one last time before closing the door behind her and Fugaku with a soft _click_. Sakura exhaled in relief, but Itachi was in front of her quickly.

"They were not rude to you?" he asked carefully, his impassive mask slipping over his face. Reaching out her hand, she patted his forearm reassuringly.

"Not at all. They just came to thank me for saving Katsurou," she assured, knowing that Itachi's relationship with his parents, his father particularly, was a bit tense. Carefully, she stood up. Shisui had already slung her packed bag with her extra clothes over his shoulder, having taken the time to roll up her mission scroll and tuck it into one of the pockets. Itachi, being as socially awkward as he was, did not have the wherewithal to introduce them, and was internally embarrassed when Sakura stuck out her hand to shake his cousin's. "It's nice to meet you, officially. I'm Haruno Sakura."

Shisui returned the handshake heartily. "Uchiha Shisui. Older cousin and best friend to this guy here," he motioned to Itachi with a laugh.

The walk to her house was slow. The kunoichi could not move quickly, lest she strain her injuries, but while it was hot, there was a pleasant breeze, making the trip more enjoyable. Shisui and Sakura seemed to hit it off, chatting their way through the Konoha streets.

Apparently Sakura had healed him once (she recognized the surgery he described and seemed to remember it, but didn't recall it being a member of the clan specifically). They had similar tastes in books and movies, having a very intense discussion about the latest romantic comedy to come out of Snow Country. While Shisui thought the kind loner deserved the girl, Sakura thought this unrealistic and insisted that the heroine deserved the bad guy who turned good for her at the end.

Itachi found his interest piqued when the conversation turned to books, and his student began to rattle off her favorite authors, some of his own on the list. He asked her about a particular writer's most recent release, which was receiving very mixed reviews from critics and fans alike.

The pinkette wrinkled her nose and explained why she didn't care for it. While Itachi thought they were valid points, he disagreed, and began to quietly list off the reasons why he believed the book was rather intelligent and satirical as opposed to drab and overdone, as Sakura had asserted.

Shisui sped up, grinning and the duo behind him, and allowed them their privacy for the short remainder of the journey. Once they arrived, Sakura tried to contend that she could get herself inside and comfortable, but the pair wouldn't hear of it. Releasing the wards surrounding her property with a dramatic sigh, she led them inside.

Shisui dropped the bag at the base of the stairs, not wanting to invade her privacy by entering her room, and went to the kitchen to fix tea. This left Itachi helped her to the sofa. Originally, he tried to convince her to get into bed, as she would be able to rest better there. The stubborn girl wouldn't hear of it and maintained she be left on the couch, where she could socialize with her roommates and friends as they came and went. He pushed the coffee table towards the couch and situated pillows on it to prop her feet up.

Embarrassed, Sakura waved him off, not used to his fretting. Appearing seemingly out of nowhere with green tea, honey, and lemon, Shisui set the too-full cup down on the end table next to the couch and coaxed her into drinking most of the cup. He then made her eat a few onigiri.

"Ino's orders," he told her conspiratorially behind his hand, his eyes dark with mock fear. Sakura laughed, but believed his explanation, finishing her snack without further fuss. Exhausted from her walk, Itachi hovered over her as she shifted on the couch to lie down; Shisui set up the movie they had been discussing on the TV, insisting: "Now watch it again with a different viewpoint. You'll see I'm right!"

Sakura dozed off not long after the two left, a silly grin on her face.

X

A week later, Itachi walked towards the kitchen, the soft wood of the engawa padding under his feat. He and Sasuke had just had a rigorous spar, and after a shower, he was hungry and ready for lunch. His little brother had disappeared to eat with Naruto and Sai. When he slid open the shoji screen, he found his mother placing containers in a canvas bag.

"Good, you're here!" was her too-enthusiastic greeting. Her eldest son eyed her warily. "I was at the market today, and I stopped to get flowers from the Yamanaka Flower Shop (she gestured to a lovely arrangement on the counter). I got to talking with Yamanaka-san, and she mentioned the Sakura-chan would be alone for the next two days. Ino-chan and their other roommate were sent on missions, leaving Sakura-chan by herself!"

Waiting for the point of her story and ignoring the overdramatic tone to her voice, Itachi arched an eyebrow at the woman. She rolled her eyes at his lack of social graces. "So, we agreed to make up some meals for poor Sakura-chan. Yamanaka-san said she was getting better but still couldn't stand or stay awake long enough to make her own food," his mother explained, handing the bag to Itachi, who took it on reflex. "Yamanaka-san promised to deliver more tomorrow, but I need you to take this to Sakura-chan."

"Okaa-san," Itachi replied, about to protest. He was hungry himself, and his duty to his mother was outweighed for his own need for sustenance. Giving him her best stern expression, the matriarch pointed towards the door with an outstretched finger, leaving no room for further argument.

"Go."

Finally heeding her commands, Itachi left the house, sliding the door behind him with an exasperated sigh. The heir to the clan made his way through the warm Konoha streets to the now familiar house of his student. When he opened the gate, he noticed that the wards around her home flared before permitting him to enter. Interesting, he mused, she had adjusted her barriers to allow him in.

The door opened after he knocked once, and Sakura's confused but not unfriendly face greeted him. Her pink hair was still in a ponytail and while still in comfortable house clothes, her complexion was markedly better, and she wasn't holding herself as tensely from discomfort as she had the prior week.

"Taichou?" she quested. He held out the bag for her to take, and she peered inside after sliding it off his fingers. Emerald eyes widened at the amount of food his mother packed, enough for a small army.

"My mother discovered you would be alone for two days," he said by way of explanation. Grinning, Sakura moved to the side.

"Well, there's plenty here, and its lunch time. You must be hungry," she replied, gesturing for him to come in.

Blankets were piled high on the couch to one side, and the coffee table was still pushed against the couch to give her more leg support when she sat up. The living room had become her bedroom for the past week, so they moved onto the dining area. After heating up some pickled vegetables, fish, and rice, they sat together in companionably as they ate their lunch.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her between measured bites. Sakura grimaced, her hand automatically going to the place in her abdomen where there had been a sword lodged just last week.

"Sore," she replied. Itachi lifted an eyebrow at her, waiting for more. She frowned, her hands shaking a bit as she put her chopsticks down. "I was...so scared. I've never felt fear like that. I was responsible for protecting them, but I failed. If you hadn't come when you did, we would have all died."

For a few moments, Itachi was silent. His hand itched to reach out towards her, to comfort her, but it stayed in it's place on the table. "If you hadn't summoned your slugs and sent Ryouichi to us, we would have never come," he replied. "You did protect them. You are the reason they are still alive."

He looked away when she wiped the tears from her eyes, giving her a moment to collect herself. When he turned back to her, she looked less heavy, like a weight had been lifted from her. The rest of their meal was finished in an easy silence. After placing their empty dishes in the sink to be dealt with later, she stored the rest of the food in the refrigerator for future consumption.

Sakura looked at the sunny weather outside from the window above the sink, and after being cooped up for over a week, longed to spend some time soaking up the warmth. "Tenten made iced tea before she left. Would you like to sit on the porch?"

Nodding, Itachi retrieved glasses and followed Sakura, who had the pitcher, out through the back door. On his way, he noticed the title of the book they had been discussing last week sitting end table in the dining room with a marker about halfway through.

"Are you rereading it?" he asked, indicating the book with a tilt of his head.

Furrowing her brow, the kunoichi nodded. "I'm trying," she retorted with a tortured sigh. "I probably made a mistake taking Shisui's advice, but I see where's he's coming from with that movie we had talked about. I'm trying to look at the book from your perspective, but it's so hard. I still think it's dry."

His lips tilted up, and Sakura found herself blushing a bit under his gaze.

"Come on, let's have some tea."

They sat on the back porch on two wooden chairs with a table between them, discussing the finer points to the books they liked, and to Sakura's shock, the romantic comedies Itachi had forced himself to watch during the past week.

* * *

Author's Note: Look who updated three times (two different stories) in one month! Huzzah! Sorry that this chapter is so transitionary, but I wanted to build more Itachi/Sakura interaction in there while introducing some characters that will continue to play parts in this story. The next chapter will see a bit of a time jump (nothing too major, just a few weeks) and a new setting for our story to continue.

I would also like to say how _amazed_ I was at the response to the last chapter. I usually see about 20 Story Favorites/20-30 Story Follows/20 Reviews per chapter, and while this may not seem like a lot to stories with over 1k favs/follows/reviews, I love/appreciate each and every time I receive this much love (any love, to be honest). But that last chapter had over 30 reviews and even more favorites and follows. This sort of support really is motivation to continue writing and to more frequently, so thank you all for the overwhelming positivity you send my way.

Not unlike, I'm sure, many of you, I suffer from depression and anxiety. Writing has always been my outlet and when I started publishing, I was always sick with worry over the reviews I would receive. However, this site and other fanfiction sites have given me the confidence and positivity in myself to continue writing. So, genuinely and from the bottom of my heart, thank you. I look forward to continue to write for you, and please, keep sending your love my way.

Stay sexy and don't fall into Mikoto's diabolical plotting for her son.

MizukiYukiko


	8. Aside Part I: Want

Author's Note: To show my gratitude to my reviewers , I've written a short scene for those who requested it – Team Seven's discovery of Sakura's injuries.

* * *

 **Hummingbird**

 **Part I Aside: Want**

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" _It doesn't matter what we want. Once we get it, then we want something else" – Petyr Baelish_

* * *

When Sasuke arrived at Ichiraku early in the morning, before Team Seven's training, he discovered he was the first one there. There were dark circles prevalent under his eyes, his pale skin more ashen than normal, and he exhaled softly when he sat down at the familiar counter. Ayame gave him one sympathetic look before setting a cup of his favorite tea down in front of him, no sugar or cream; it would be bitter, just the way he liked it.

"Was it a long trip, Sasuke-kun?" she asked compassionately. He only grunted in response.

She had no fucking idea.

Not too long after, a steaming bowl of breakfast ramen was placed in front of him, an extra-large serving, the dried bacon pieces and hard boiled eggs floating in the rich broth enticingly. Mechanically, he snapped his chopsticks apart and took a bite. It tasted like ash in his mouth.

Naruto arrived not long after, loud as always, and didn't seem to notice Sasuke's surlier than normal attitude. He hollered to Ayame, begging her to make his favorite lunch ramen a little earlier than normal. The spunky cook refused and gave him the same as Sasuke, just a smaller serving, Teuichi laughing at the hyperactive ninja's pleading.

This was the moment their sensei arrived, looking bored as usual. Kakashi smacked his book over the blonde's head as he ducked into the stand, telling him to quiet down. It was too early for him to be yowling like that. He gave Sasuke and easy greeting and observed him quietly, not commenting or asking about whatever was clearly the matter with his moody student; he would tell them in his own time in his own way, but something with clearly bothering him. More ramen flowed from the kitchens, Kakashi gobbling his down in one bite, his students not getting the chance to catch him without his mask.

It wasn't until Sai arrived, just as pale and exhausted as Sasuke, that the Uchiha lifted eyes from the food and tea in front of him. White knuckled fingers gripped the tea cup so hard that Kakashi was afraid it would shatter, and they would owe Teuichi and Ayame money for breaking dishes…again.

"How is she." It was a question that sounded like a statement, with a nonchalance so forced that it couldn't be mistaken for real. Noodles hanging from his mouth and reaching his chin, Naruto looked up, his eyes roving from Sai to Sasuke.

"How's who?" he asked, the dangling noodles slipping from their confines before he slurped them the rest of the way up, chewing thoughtfully before gulping them down. Sai ignored his disgusting display in favor of locking eyes with his other teammate with a blank stare.

"She's out of surgery. The Godaime and Shizune-san said she will be sore for a while, but she will make a full recovery," he replied before turning towards the bowl of ramen that had been set down in front of him, setting his chopsticks in the broth. "They said that…that by all probabilities…she should have died out there. That it was a miracle she was alive."

"Who?" This time, it was Kakashi that questioned the duo, but the growing knot of dread that was plunging his heart into his stomach and washing over him like a crashing wave, told him exactly who they were talking about; he didn't even know why he bothered asking, but he needed to hear them say it, needed to hear the name before he accepted what was an inevitability. Sai, black circles seeming to darken under his eyes, did not stop staring at his food, pushing it around slowly with his chopsticks. He didn't speak.

"Sakura," Sasuke replied, glancing between Kakashi and Naruto for a moment before setting his blank stare somewhere on the wall ahead of him. "My family found her in a battle on the way back from Hot Springs. It wasn't good."

The younger Uchiha brother hadn't even known what to do. When he had arrived at the battle ground, Sakura's small hand wrapped around a thick neck, snapping it with just her chakra, he had been shocked. Standing as still as a statue, all he could do was watch stiffly as her body seemed to fall in slow motion to the ground, her grunting as the sword shifted in her abdomen.

Once they had killed the remainder of the enemies, which wasn't hard since they had already been exhausted from the battle with the pinkette, Sasuke just stood there and gaped at the prostrate body of his former team member. It was his aunt's stern command to him and Fumiko that snapped him back to reality. His cousin, a special jounin that had seen her fair share of battles, gave him an understanding grimace before pulling him into the woods to set a perimeter.

Based on the injuries and the lack of medic among their group, it wasn't hard to assume that Haruno Sakura would die in that clearing with no real friends or family by her side.

Sasuke had felt useless, and that was not a feeling he was familiar with.

"WHAT?!" Naruto's shriek pulled him from his internal musings, and Sasuke sent him a withering glare. "Is she okay?!"

Kakashi sighed before grinding his fist into Naruto's head. "Didn't you listen to Sai?" he asked, his voice dark with solemnity. "She's going to be fine."

After dropping off Sakura and her genin at the hospital, Itachi had opted to stay until her surgery was complete. Sasuke gritted his teeth in frustration, his fingernails biting into the skin of his palm as he clenched his fist, giving his poor teacup a break from being squashed; he did not know the nature of the relationship between his brother and former teammate, but they were closer that even Shisui seemed to be privy to, judging by his older cousin's raised eyebrows as they left.

Mikoto had turned to Sasuke and asked if he knew where Sakura lived, if he could go inform her parents. While Sasuke hadn't made it a point to follow the pinkette's every life event in the past years, he knew that her parents had moved away and that she was living with Ino and Tenten in her childhood home.

He arrived at the front gate to the abode and could tell the house warded, and when he tried to enter, he was stung by an alerting jutsu that was in place. Knowing it would have warned and woken someone inside, he waited. Although he surprised when Sai opened the front door, the Uchiha didn't show it, opting tell him what had happened as quickly and succinctly as possible.

His ink-haired teammate had frown lines marring his forehead, and his lips instantly turned down in a deep frown. Without thanking him for the information, Sai turned and rushed inside. After slinking into the shadows across the street and waiting for a few minutes, Sasuke observed Sai and Ino run from the house, barely dressed, in the direction of the hospital, Ino yanking on her sandals while trying to keep up with her counterpart.

Knowing that Sakura had her support system on its way, he returned home, only to lay awake thinking of what had transpired that day in minute detail. It wasn't until the sun was fully in the sky that he heard Itachi open and close the door to their home, speak with his mother for a few minutes, before showering and closing the door to his own room, presumably to sleep.

When Sasuke finally dragged himself out of bed, after not sleeping for almost 48 hours, he was cranky and not looking forward to his training session with his teammates, but he was anticipating Sai would be there with an update. He and Sakura may not be best friends, but he certainly didn't want her dead, and he needed to know what happened to her.

Sasuke was once again pulled from his angsty internal thoughts by Naruto's shouting.

"Let's go visit her!"

"No." Kakashi's rejection was swift and resolute, his voice steely and strained. Naruto's excitement stemmed instantly at the dark look in his sensei's eye. After a moment, he crinkled it in a mock-smile. "She's resting and needs time alone."

Ayame appeared in front of the rather clueless boys.

"Why don't you three spend the afternoon getting a get-well basket together for her? Give her some things to do while she recovers since I'm sure she'll be bored if she's bed-bound for any long amount of time. If you stop by tomorrow morning, I'll make some bland ramen for her to eat so she doesn't have to rely on hospital food," she offered with a smile. "One of you can deliver it, so you don't overwhelm her."

Naruto gave her a megawatt grin.

"Good idea! Now let's go train or I won't be hungry for my afternoon ramen!" he shouted before bouncing off the chair and into the busting morning streets of the village. Sai placed some bills on the counter before sliding off his seat with a deep exhale, following at a slower pace behind their energetic teammate.

"He's just as worried as the rest of us. He just masks it with his enthusiasm," Kakashi murmured, but Sasuke didn't know if he was talking to himself or to anyone else.

The Uchiha boy was still glaring at his half-drunk cup of tea and almost full ramen bowl. Ayame gave him another comforting smile when she took the bowl from him and dumped the rest of the contents in a to-go container for later, wrapping it in a bag and replacing it on the counter in front of him.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi prompted. His student didn't look up.

"I watched her get impaled. I watched her spit blood in the guy's face and grin before wrapping her hand around his throat and snapping it," he said, his voice barely above a harsh whisper.

Kakashi's eye seemed to cloud over, and Sasuke knew he was somewhere in his past, no longer sitting at the ramen stand with him. After a moment, his attention snapped back to the present and to Sasuke.

"How did we end up like this?" he asked his sensei, and for a moment, Kakashi only saw Sasuke for what he was - a young man trying to come to terms with the shinobi world. Instead of responding, he placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

It's not like he had an answer.

The two left the ramen shop in dampened spirits, heading off towards the training grounds.

* * *

 **End Part One**

* * *

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed this snippet of Team Seven's interactions as they pertain to Sakura.

Please review!

Stay sexy and don't let Naruto steal your ramen.

MizukiYukiko


	9. Beneath the Sea

**Hummingbird**

 **Chapter 8: Beneath the Sea**

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" _It is beautiful beneath the sea, but if you stay too long, you'll drown." – Three Eyed Raven_

* * *

Running through the forest in an indeterminate direction, her feet hitting the ground in nearly-silent thumps at the same rapid tempo as her racing heart, Sakura pumped her arms harshly to propel herself faster, further with each step. Wild green eyes stared directly ahead of her, not once breaking their focus on a point straight ahead. She only moved her body, twisting her torso and ducking her head, to dodge the rich green leaves and vivid branches that were obstructing her path, but her eyes remained fixated ahead.

It felt like she was running for hours, never once straying from her path, when she suddenly came to a clearing in the forest with four distinct paths in front of her, marked by breaks in the greenery. Gasping for breath for a moment, she scanned the four paths for only an instant before choosing one. For reasons she wasn't sure of, the path furthest to the right seemed like the best option, so following her gut, the kunoichi sprinted into the dense forest again.

She had only been running on her selected path for a few minutes when a figure interrupted her path, and she knew she would have to stop or divert herself in order to avoid a collision. Panic flooded her when she realized that she couldn't stop her feet. While her mind screamed at her legs to halt their furious movement, her body would not listen. The opaque figure produced a long sword from nowhere, pulling it out of the darkness in a fluid motion.

Her legs would not stop, and she stared in horror as the sword was pointed directly towards her. As she got closer, the face of the man in front of her materialized. The bloody grin of the ninja she had battled in the woods came into view.

 _No!_ she shrieked internally. _I killed him! He shouldn't be here – I killed him!_

Legs still pumping harshly, her breath coming out in wild gasps and heart banging madly in her chest, Sakura watched in abject horror as her traitorous legs propelled her directly into the pointing broadsword. The manically grinning man laughed frenziedly in her face, bloody spit hitting her cheeks and forehead as she impaled herself on his weapon.

Sakura did not scream or sit up in bed suddenly when she woke up. Instead, she gasped almost soundlessly before letting out a few shuddering breaths, trying to stop the tears from flowing from her eyes and willing her thundering heartbeat to slow. Tears had been coming frequently since her battle in the forest; her recovery was not all physical, and her emotions could change faster than she could blink.

Emerald eyes roving the unfamiliar ceiling rapidly, she tried to focus on deep breaths as she continued her attempts to calm her frantic heartbeat and determine where she was, as she was not in the comfort of her bedroom in Konoha.

The arm around her waist tensed as her bedpartner stirred from her sudden wakefulness. Shikamaru's shaggy hair tickled her nose as he slowly pulled his arm from its resting place on her stomach and turned to look at her. While she had been sleeping on her back, he had been on his stomach, one arm tucked under his pillow while the other draped lazily of her midsection.

"Sak?" he grumbled, rubbing his face into his pillow to clear the sleepiness from his eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she sighed deeply, but she couldn't even convince herself, so she was sure that the astute tactical genius next to her would not be fooled.

Sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed, her bare skin prickling at the icy air around them, Sakura reached for her bra first and then the dark blue sweater she had been wearing earlier. It was a size too big and fell midway down her thighs, but it was comfortable and made her feel cozy.

Almost missing her panties that were half under the bed, she grabbed them before continuing her mission of finding her discarded clothing. Shikamaru was watching her lazily as she pulled on the plain black cotton underwear she preferred. Fur-lined black leggings were yanked on next, along with her close-toed ninja boots that went to her knees.

After taking a moment to freshen up in the ensuite bathroom, brushing out her hair and wiping off some smudged makeup, she closed the door to Shikamaru's room behind her as she tiptoed out silently; he had already rolled onto his back and was fast asleep by the time she left.

She hadn't meant to fall asleep in his room; they rarely spent the night together when they had sex, and it weirded her out a bit to wake up with someone in the same bed. It was unfamiliar.

After a moment of internal debate, the medic decided not to return to her own lodgings, opting to follow the stairs down the building and out onto the streets of Kumogakure.

Even in the autumn, the Village Hidden by Clouds was bitingly cold. The high elevation coupled with the northern geographical location made the village chilly no matter what time of year, but with winter rapidly approaching, it was nearly freezing at night.

Wrapping her arms around herself to fend off the cold, Sakura made her way to one of the nearby bars. Like Suna, Kumo's nightlife was lively, and due to the dramatic increase in population for the chuunin exams, the establishments were open later than normal.

On her first trip to the hidden village a month ago for the first portion of the examinations, Sakura had found a small bar not far from the government building where all of the visitors were housed. The cozy establishment was a wonderful respite from her stressed out team of preteens.

Slipping through the thick curtain that insulated the quaint establishment, protecting it from the outside chill, the kunoichi slid into a stool right along the bar, but further in back, separating her from the other patrons. Taking a cursory glance around the room, she noted that she did not know anyone there. It seemed to be mostly patronized by Kumo civilians, but she noticed some Sand and Rock shinobi sitting interspersed throughout the available chairs.

The barmaid, a kind woman named Suzume that Sakura chatted with frequently, slid a warmed cup of sake into Sakura's fingers before she could even place an order. The middle-aged woman winked at the pinkette before leaving to tend to another new customer. Nursing the rather large ceramic cup slowly, Sakura stared at the intricate designs of the natural, roughened wood of the bar top and thought about the fights that would take place the following day.

This chuunin exam was being handled very differently than the two that Sakura had participated in years prior. Due to the dramatic increase in population after the most recent shinobi war, the villages were busting at the seams with young genin, and more villages were participating in the exams as well. Just over two hundred genin from the various villages had appeared in Kumo for the first set of exams.

Sakura's genin had been ready for the inevitable trials, having spent so much time preparing, and had excelled during the first round, which was the written test. Unlike her exam, the written assessment was to work with a randomized team of genin from different countries to break codes, and you could only advance if your other two teammates' improvised groups passed as well.

In a practical sense, it encouraged intercountry relations all while forcing the participants to work with unfamiliar shinobi. All three of her genin qualified and were allowed to move onto the survival round along with 96 other genin.

The thirty-three teams were then let loose on the base of a mountain to follow what essentially amounted to clues for a scavenger hunt (which were actually the answers to the codebreaking first exam) to find five different colored stones, one representing each of the five major shinobi villages. When her little team emerged three days later, they were battered and bruised, but no worse for ware, and had five stones to show for their hard work.

Their jounin sensei had been panicking the entire time that her small squad had been gone, as the days had passed and more and more pint-sized shinobi were pulled from the coniferous forest by proctoring jounin, very much injured from their battles on the mountain.

The pinkette had nearly cried from relief, barely managing to hold her blubbering at bay, but she had pulled them all into an affectionate (and according to Katsurou, embarrassing) hug after being checked out by the medic team on duty. Sakura did her own check, just to be sure.

Twenty teams, sixty genin, had found the required stones, but there were only thirty-two spots for the final tournament. After a pretournament battle took place, two of Sakura's students had managed to move onto the final rounds – Chouko and Katsurou.

Ryouichi had fought hard to earn a place with his teammates, but his opponent had been a fifteen-year-old kunoichi from Iwagakure, who had two more years of training than the younger and less experienced Konoha shinobi. But Sakura had been proud of her student; he had fought hard and had almost won the fight when his foe broke free of a genjutsu and used a powerful taijutsu attack to knock the younger boy out.

While Katsurou had managed to defeat another first year genin from Grass comparatively easily, Chouko's match ended in a draw. While her opponent was a natural long-range fighter and tended to use earth based ninjutsu, Chouko was more skilled at close-quarter combat and water jutsu; their skills sets were so opposite that they were unable to hash out a clear winner by the time the two could barely stand after almost an hour of fighting.

Since there were sixty genin and thirty-two spaces, the proctors determined that both Chouko and her opponent, a young boy from Suna, could both participate in the final round.

After a full week of testing, Sakura's team, along with the other thirty or so Konoha genin that had participated, went back to their village to prepare for the final tournament that would take place a month later. She spent the following weeks both preparing her genin for their battles and her own training with Itachi.

Since her major wounds had taken longer than she would have liked to fully heal, she had just gotten back to the point where her body was able to do the same things it had been just before her injuries. The determined kunoichi had been very hard on herself, often pushing her recovering body past its limits to realign her expectations of her body and career path.

Guilt and forced her to go faster, harder; it wasn't just her career effected – poor Itachi had made a three month commitment to her that was now pushing its fourth month. Luckily, after a conversation with both her teacher and the Godaime, they determined that one more month of training following the chuunin exams would be adequate, and then Sakura would begin her intern role on Itachi's ANBU squad.

In what felt like no time at all, she was back in the chilly village hidden on the tops of mountains with her entire squad, the other genin who were participating, and the Hokage, who had insisted on brining several ANBU.

Although no attacks had occurred since Sakura's battle in the northern region of Fire Country, all nations were taking precautions against the rogue shinobi. Apparently, other nations were seeing an increase in random attacks as well, but Fire Country, being so centrally located, was getting the brunt of them.

Every participating nation had come with a larger military force than what was normal, and the perceptive apprentice of the Hokage could feel the tension thrumming in the air.

Six Konoha genin, three Kumo, seven Mist, four Suna, and five Stone genin, along with seven who were from smaller villages, had made it to the final tournament. The first round, which had taken place that very day, consisted of 16 battles that were to be a maximum time of 30 minutes.

If there was no clear winner at the end of the battle, a vote would be taken by the five Kage to determine a victor. There was now a day of rest, and tomorrow would be another round of 8 battles, no more than one hour in length. The day after that would have the remaining three battles and would determine the champion of this chuunin exam.

Sakura was very much looking forward to the exams being over and returning to Konoha, eager to complete her own training and for things to return to some semblance of normalcy.

Both Chouko and Katsurou had won their battles today (or, technically, yesterday, as it was just before two in the morning)– Katsurou taking out the Sand ninja that Chouko had tied with and Chouko defeating an older genin from Mist who hadn't seemed to train for the tournament well enough. Due to his age, he must have been confident in his abilities and had not learned any new jutsu or fighting style to prepare.

Sakura had taught all three of her genin new jutsu in the interim weeks to surprise their opponents with, Ryouichi learning his for the next chuunin exams, so he would be sure to advance.

Chouko had learned a fire jutsu that could be used in conjunction with her weapons (Itachi had taught this to Sakura upon her request), and Katsurou learned a wind justu. She also continued advanced weapons training, hoping a wider variety of weapons at their disposal would aid them. They still had not used their new tricks yet, hoping to get further into the tournament before revealing what they had learned in the last month.

The solitary kunoichi sat at the bar for almost half an hour in silence when a vaguely familiar figure sat down next to her. At first, she was irritated with the sudden interruption to her alone time, but a small smile cracked her lips when she saw who it was.

"Norimoto-san*!" she said, genuinely happy to see her old teammate, who she had not worked with for over a year. "It's nice to see you."

The stoic Hyuuga nodded at her. "I have been on a mission in Demon Country for several months," he told her. "I barely arrived home when I was told to attend the final matches of the chuunin exams."

A wry smile spread over Sakura's face.

"Were you surprised to find out your younger sister had made it to the final rounds?" she asked him. Sakura had observed Hyuuga Momoko, called Moe by her teammates and friends, during the preliminary battles and had been very impressed by her skill. Sakura's new companion shook his head.

"No," he replied easily, taking a long draw from the beer that Suzume had set down in front of him. "She has always been strong. I think she'll win tomorrow."

So did Sakura, and it was not an easy thing to admit, as Chouko would be Moe's opponent. The pinkette gave her companion a wan smile before finishing off the rest of her sake.

"Tell Moe-chan good luck from me!" she told him. "It was good to see you, Norimoto-san. I hope we can work together again now that you'll be back in Konoha."

The special jounin next to her reached out and grabbed her wrist lightly when she went to slide off of her barstool. Seizing in a moment in panic from the unexpected touch, Sakura yanked her wrist out of his grip and pulled it to her chest, her eyes going wide as she realized the severity of her reaction.

"Sorry," she murmured listlessly, her eyes going to the floor in her shame, so she wouldn't see the sympathetic, pitying look that was sure to be on Norimoto's face – the same look almost everyone gave her when she had such a response. When she finally managed to lift her eyes, it was not pity she saw, just awareness of something – like he had just learned something new about her and was filing it away from later.

"No," he insisted. "I apologize for grabbing you suddenly. I did that to my father once while he was sleeping and found myself pinned to the wall with a kunai to my throat when I was just a child. Sometimes it's hard to remember that your friends and families are shinobi first."

Grateful for his understanding, Sakura nodded and smiled a little more genuinely. There was an odd glint to Norimoto's eye when he coughed a little awkwardly, raising his hand to cover his mouth before it wrapped around his beer like a security blanket. It could be from the alcohol or the warmth of the bar, but his face was a tad redder than normal.

"I was just going to ask," he mumbled, losing some of the normal Hyuuga bravado, "if you'd like to get lunch or coffee or something when we return…since it's been…ah…so long since we've caught up."

It wasn't difficult to figure out that he was asking her out on a date, and Sakura stiffened a bit; she had never necessarily lacked suitors, but unlike Ino, she had never been able to make these experiences any less awkward.

Considering the young man in front of her, just a few years her senior, Sakura mulled over the appropriate response.

The Hyuuga was not a difficult person to get along with, being more social than many of his stoic cousins, but he was a little more serious than she usually preferred. However, the majority of her encounters with him had been during missions, so it wasn't really fair for her to judge that based off of these meetings alone. Plus, it had been a while since Sakura had been out with anyone, as her intense schedule was usually booked to the brim, making casual relationships the only real option for her.

Deciding it would be prudent to at least give the kind jounin a chance, she smiled and nodded a bit, stating in a bashful voice, just above a whisper, "Sure, I'd like that. It may have to be a quick lunch break on a day I'm at the clinic, though."

Once the man had nodded his affirmation, a small smile emerging once she had agreed, Sakura turned around to find that her conversation with Norimoto had not gone unnoticed, and there were now several Konoha shinobi in the bar with them, most of them trying and failing to hide the fact that they were eavesdropping.

Rolling her eyes, she looked over her shoulder to find the Hyuuga branch member squinting his eyes suspiciously at all the familiar faces in the room.

"They aren't very subtle," he stated matter-of-factly. "Especially since they've been following me around since yesterday."

Genma, Raido, Yuuago, and another shinobi Sakura recognized but didn't know the name of, had the common sense to look abashed at being caught stalking the capable jounin.

It made sense that Norimoto would have a protection detail – the Hyuuga and Kumogakure were not on great terms, as the hidden village had continuously attempted to steal the Byakugan throughout the years. Momoko very likely also had her own ANBU team looking after her as well to ensure enemy nin did not make an attempt to capture her.

The amount of Hyuuga that were allowed to leave Konoha had been limited to two – Moe and Norimoto. There were two Hyuuga in Sakura's genins' graduating class that were denied their teachers' bid to enter them into the chuunin exams. They were going to have to wait for the next one in six months that would take place in Mist, as there wasn't enough manpower to monitor them all. Moe had been in the graduating class before her genin and had not passed her last exam; her seniority overruled the other two.

Sakura shrugged. "There's not really a point in hiding it," she replied. "It's not like Kumo can deny being a threat."

After one last goodbye and a glare sent to the group of ununiformed ANBU who were tasked with overseeing Norimoto's safety, Sakura pushed past the thick curtains and into the continuously colder air. The clouds that clung to the mountains obstructed a clear view of the sky above, but lanterns had been lit liberally throughout the village to light the paths and streets.

Across the street, Sakura saw a shadowed alleyway that looked a little too dark, almost unnatural in its blackness. Smiling, she waved discreetly before making her way over, casting a silencing jutsu around her with one hand sign so the man's hiding place wouldn't be revealed.

"Taichou," she greeted her sensei, wrapping her arms around her shouldrrs again to protect herself from the biting cold. Itachi was leaning against the stone building behind him, Sharingan activated with a book in his hands. It was dark, but Sakura could see the title and offered a bright smile. "You're reading it!"

The stoic male in front of her nodded once. Since they had begun debating books after her injury three months ago, the two had been recommending novels back to each other and discussing them once the other completed the book.

It had taken forever, but Sakura had finally convinced Itachi to commit to a historical fiction romance novel, but he had seemingly been avoiding actually beginning the first volume in the series.

"It's unrealistic," he stated blandly. Glancing down at the book, she noticed he wasn't even halfway through and already drawing conclusions. Emerald eyes, luminescent in the soft lights from the lanterns, glared up at his bright red ones. "The warring states period would not have allowed families that hated each other so much to allow their children to meet, much less fall in love."

"It's _fiction_ ," she countered, stressing the genre to explain the inconsistencies. "The point is to make up a story that was believable during the history that it's set in."

"It's not plausible that the princess from the Funai family would have ever crossed paths with the eldest son of the Tengan clan," was his argument, given in a soft, almost amused lilting voice. "There is an entire army between the two countries, not to mention the treacherous terrain the author describes."

The feisty kunoichi in front of him threw up her arms in frustration.

"You have no imagination," she stated with a huff. A single onyx eyebrow rose at her judgement, but his student didn't seem to notice. "There's this thing called _espionage_."

Obsidian eyes narrowed at her edgy tone, so he matched it. " _Who do you think I am?"_ he asked her rhetorically.

Sakura's mouth opened at his tetchy response, not expecting any level of sarcasm from the normally levelheaded Uchiha male. One side of his lip lifting in what would be a smirk of satisfaction on a normal person, Itachi nearly looked smug when he chastised her blithely, "You'll catch flies."

Snapping her mouth shut so hard that her teeth knocked together, Sakura glowered at her senpai, but she didn't respond. The Uchiha family was well known for its ability in reconnaissance missions, and her remark had lost her points in their argument; Sakura couldn't help but keep score (to herself, of course) with her surprisingly combative sensei.

When it came to intellectual debates, which, like the rest of his pursuits, Itachi seemed to excel at, arguing with him was nearly impossible, but the spirited medic-nin was not one to back down so easily. Like sparring, the more you practiced debating (academic discussions, he called them), the better you got.

"If it were you, could you have crossed the treacherous terrain and two armies and arrive unscathed at the other side?" she asked him challengingly. Itachi thought for a moment.

"Yes," he admitted at length. Sakura smiled a little evilly, her glowing eyes peering up at him, fiery and spirited in their debate.

"So, it may not be _realistic_ , but it's _plausible_ ,"she insisted, throwing his own words back at him. For once, she was sure that she would make him cave, admit that she was right. Instead, right at that moment, Norimoto emerged from the bar and made his way back to the building where all Konoha shinobi were lodging.

"Goodnight, Sakura-san," was his only reply, and like a wraith in the night, the shadowy figure of her sensei disappeared to a nearby rooftop to follow the clueless Hyuuga male. A coward's retreat, she thought, and added one point to her internal scoreboard.

Following the road back to the building, the solitary kunoichi listened to racket permeating from the nearby bars, flushed with noise of rowdy shinobi and civilians alike. The time was approaching three in the morning, and soon the streets would be flooded with the patrons returning to their lodgings, both temporary and permanent.

Sakura languidly climbed the two sets of stairs that led to the suite she shared with her genin. Several protective wards had been placed over the little apartment which would have alerted her if there was an emergency, so she knew that when she walked through the thick wooden door and into the small bedroom they were sharing, they would be fine.

However, anxiety was still crawling up her spine and into her throat as she released the protective jutsu and entered the suite silently. What if her wards had failed? What if there had been an attack that she didn't know about? What if one of them was hurt and the others couldn't leave to get help?

Closing the heavy door behind her with a nearly soundless click, Sakura toed off her boots and left them next to the door. Still trembling with apprehension over the safety of her squad, she walked quickly to their room, which was left cracked open.

Flashes of memories danced in her mind's eye – Chouko being hit in the head and falling to the ground, Katsurou nearly impaled by a sword, Ryouichi's panicked face as his hands grabbed for her when she sent him to get help.

The soft light from the sitting room passed over their sleeping faces. Chouko was in the single bed to the left, while Katsurou and Ryouichi shared a bunk against the back wall. Their breaths were deep and even – healthy and alive. Sakura inhaled deeply and finally exhaled the rest of her concern.

The kunoichi backed away from the door easily and crossed the sitting room. The bedroom she had been given was large and opulent; Sakura knew not everyone was given such treatment, but being the Godaime's apprentice had its perks. Warm sake had provided the comfort that she had needed after her earlier nightmare, so it wasn't hard to peel off her clothes and throw them into the corner.

After replacing them with a baggy shirt and comfortable pajama pants, she slid into bed with a contented sigh. It wasn't long before the exhausted kunoichi fell into a dreamless sleep.

X

After a day of relaxation with her team, which was spent exploring Kumo and playing in the low hanging clouds, it was time for the next round of battles to begin.

Sakura stood behind her shishou in the top box of the arena, shifting her weight nervously from one foot to the other. Next to her, Naruto was watching the battles with a sparkle to his cerulean eyes.

The blond was the only member of Team Seven who had been invited to come to the exams, as Tsunade wanted to ensure that the majority of powerful ninja were left at home to defend if there was an attack, and Naruto had strong bonds with both the Kazekage and Killer B, the Raikage's brother. Luckily, the other too jinchuuriki had provided the perfect distraction, and besides some passing comments about the matches, Naruto hadn't forced her into any conversations. In fact, to Sakura's surprise, he had been on his best behavior since the beginning of the journey to Kumo.

The chilly air had warmed some, but the day had been long, and slowly, they were approaching the end of this series of battles. There were only two more matches of the day, but first, Sakura watched as Chouko stood in the center of the field, nearly collapsing from exhaustion. As the final buzzer sounded, marking the end of their one-hour match, a small frown twitched onto Sakura's chapped lips.

Her purple-haired pupil had fought well, and although her enemy was on all fours in front of her, gasping from the ninjutsu that Chouko had unleashed, it was clear that Moe had won – Chouko had been outclassed by the older girl.

There were a few moments of silence before the proctor called out loudly, using a jutsu to amplify his voice: "A vote from the Kage!"

Employing the same jutsu, the Mizukage started: "Hyuuga."

"Hyuuga," corroborated Gaara, who glanced at Sakura to gauge her reaction.

"Uzuki," 'A', the Raikage, decided. Although Sakura loved her pupil and was bursting with pride at how she fought, not even she could see where he got that idea, but she'd take the point where she could get it. There was a pause from the Godaime, but Tsunade did not look back at her apprentice.

"Hyuuga," she finally stated.

"Hyuuga," the Tsuchikage validated.

There was a huge uproar of applause for the young genin, and Sakura clapped her hands together several times respectfully; the girl deserved the win. The Godaime's apprentice watched proudly as, just as the final winner was announced, Chouko ran to her fellow Leaf nin's side to check on her. Her last jutsu, a wind jutsu that was a simpler variation of the Rasengan that Sakura had created herself, had landed a powerful blow and likely at least bruised some of the Hyuuga's ribs, if not cracked a few.

Sakura was delighted that her student's first reaction to losing was not to pout, but to ensure her opponent's health, as she knew that they were fellow Konohagakure shinobi.

"She did very well, Sakura," Tsunade finally said. The blonde woman had twisted in her chair to raise one honey colored eyebrow at her. The younger of the two smiled back. "You should be proud of her."

"I am… of all of them."

Katsurou's match had been just before lunch and hadn't lasted the full hour, as his opponent was a Mist ninja, who wielded a hammer the same size as Zabuza's sword with astounding speed and accuracy. The Uchiha boy had fought valiantly, but his adversary's large array water jutsu combined with his weaponry ability made him a tough opponent. Her student had been knocked out and brought to the medic tent just over halfway through the fight. Sakura had visited him during their lunch break, and although surly and grumpy from his loss, his only major injury was to his pride.

As Chouko and Momoko were led away by medic-nin, the pink-haired kunoichi watched her other two students move from the stands and cross to the medic tent to check on their teammate. Their instructor longed to do the same, but she couldn't. Her duty here was not as a jounin instructor, but as the Hokage's body guard and ambassador.

The last two fights seemed to drag on forever, and everyone in the sky deck, Kage and ambassadors alike, were thrilled when the final match ended in a knock out early, a Grass nin soundly defeating a Stone genin. With the promise of dinner and wine, the group of officials were glad to call the fighting for the day off and make their way to the dining hall where they would be served supper.

Driving her way through the crowd and towards the medical tent to check on her team, Sakura was stopped when a familiar voice called her name. A little mortified, Sakura turned and managed to coerce a smile from her lips as Temari made her way, weaving through the throngs of people, towards the pinkette.

"Sakura," Temari greeted. Her own grin seemed a little forced. "Could we speak in private?"

Gulping down her nervousness and now planning her own funeral, as Temari was sure to kill her, Sakura nodded and followed the weapon's master into a secluded conference room off the main hall. When Temari shut the door behind her, Sakura saw visions of herself being blown from the roof of the building with an evilly laughing Temari at the top.

"So, I'll cut to the chase," she said, bluntly. Sakura always appreciated that about Gaara's older sister. The tall woman was standing in front of her, shoulders thrown back in confidence that Sakura did not ever think that she would possess herself. "I spent yesterday with Shikamaru. We talked. A lot. And he told me about you two."

"Look, Temari, there isn't really anything going on—"

The blonde's face looked grim and stressed. "Please let me finish," she interrupted, and Sakura realized that Temari likely wanted to have this conversation just as much as she did. "There is an ambassador position to Konoha opening in the new year. I wanted to take it."

This time, Sakura's smile was genuine. Permanent ambassadorships to other nations were a high honor, and it usually took years before someone would be given that position; usually it went to retired, stuffy shinobi, but Temari would be perfect for the job.

"Congratulations," Sakura commended sincerely.

"Thank you," Temari replied. "One of the reasons why I would take this particular post is because of Shikamaru, but if you two are involved, I don't want to embarrass myself. There are other villages opening up as well."

Sakura held up her hands in surrender. "Shikamaru and I are not involved. I knew, we both knew, when we got involved, that if you were to ever be in the picture again, I would no longer be, and I'm fine with that. Things with him…they're just physical. He's one of my best friends, but I don't hold romantic interest in him."

The older woman smiled softly, wistfully, as if her prayers had just been answered. "That's what he said. I just wanted to make sure he wasn't making it up," she explained. "So…if I were to ask…"

"Say the word, Temari, and it ends with Shikamaru," Sakura promised honestly, grinning up at the taller woman. Even though she would miss her bedpartner, Sakura was always sure that these two could make it work if they were just ever able to be in the same place at the same time.

Temari got a funny look about her face before, in an almost whisper, said, "I love him, Sakura."

Nearly beaming, Sakura crushed the girl in a hug that the Sand nin was not expecting, but reciprocated anyway.

"It'll be great to have you in Konoha!" the medic nin told her sincerely, excited for another friend to be so close. The two parted ways outside of the room; the hallway was rapidly emptying as the crowd made its way to dinner.

When Sakura spotted a familiar, leering face, on the opposite side of the hall, she frowned at the knowing glint to his obsidian eyes. "Spying, Shisui-san?" she drawled.

"Oh, Sakura-chan," he sighed dramatically in way of greeting. "Did you have a nice conversation with Temari-sama?"

Narrowing her eyes at the Uchiha dangerously, Sakura walked in the opposite direction, but the body-flicker ninja was not so easily daunted. His easy steps matched hers as he followed.

"You really shouldn't listen in on other's conversations," Sakura admonished, a little embarrassed that her sensei's cousin and best friend had overheard that particular exchange. She preferred to keep that part of her life private.

Shisui put his arm out to wrap around Sakura shoulders, attempting to pull her close, but the unexpected contact made Sakura seize in fear and chakra flooded her arms unconsciously, almost forming into scalpels when she got control over it. A quiet, shuddering breath wracked her frame. Shisui released her immediately and frowned down at her.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, a worried crease forming in his brow, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," was the curt reply. After taking even breaths to calm her overactive nervous system, she looked at the older Uchiha with a wan smile in a failure of an attempt to reassure him. It was that moment that Itachi, who had been looking for his cousin and had seen the troubling exchange, let his presence be known.

"Sakura-san," he greeted. Trying to give his apprentice a moment to collect herself, he turned to his cousin. "It's time for dinner."

Shisui seemed to catch the hit, and after giving the pinkette one more worried look, he turned his full attention to his kin and smiled easily. "Alright, let's go," he agreed. "Sakura-san, you'll join us, right?"

The medic-nin, having calmed down enough to reply, nodded. "Let me check on my genin, and I'll meet up with you. You'll have to save me a seat!"

They lapsed into an easy conversation about the matches that day, and by the time they reached the fork in the building where they would separate, Shisui had Sakura almost gasping for breath with laughter as he impersonated one of the Konoha genin's embarrassing failure of a jutsu – it had been good in theory but disastrous in practice. Although she felt a little guilty of laughing at the poor boy's expense, Sakura definitely needed the mirth to lighten her dampened mood.

They split when there were only two paths to take; Sakura would find her genin outside in the tents and the boys would make their way to the mess hall. Looking at them carefully, Sakura informed the two, "One of you will have to act as my escort to the ball tomorrow night, or I'll be stuck as Naruto's date, and murder is _bad_."

Shisui waggled his eyebrows at her. "Are you sure you don't want Norimoto-san as your date, Sakura-chan?"

A blush coloring her cheeks, Sakura gave the older of the two cousin's a genuine glare. "Stop eavesdropping on my conversations!"

Shisui grabbed his bewildered cousin by the arm of his shirt and partially used his body as a shield to block Sakura's ire. "See you later, Sakura-chan! Hey, bring those genin of yours along!"

With that, Shisui darted into the mess hall with a confused Itachi, who had missed out on some sort of joke, in tow.

* * *

*Hyuuga Norimoto was on Sakura's squad in the prequel to this story, Kunoichi, when they discovered Itachi injured after a battle.

Author's Note: In The First time, I wrote Sakura with a major injury and wanted to show some symptoms of PTSD after, and I don't think I did a good job. I'm attempting to rectify that here. We should get one more chapter wrapping up the chuunin exams. I hope the exposition of this chapter, the lengthy explanations of how my own versions of the exams work, wasn't too dry.

Once again, your response to the past two chapters was amazing. Thank you. Please continue the reviews with this one.

Stay sexy and don't let Shisui listen in on your conversations, or he'll blabber your dating life to the world.


	10. Attention

**Hummingbird**

 **Chapter 9: Attention**

* * *

" _If you think this has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention." – Ramsay Bolton_

* * *

The ballroom where the final chuunin exam gala was being held was massive.

Dome windows covered the entirety of the ceiling, revealing the tumultuous storm systems brewing in the sky above. The three-story tall walls were painted in intricate murals, telling the tales of Lightning Country's history, as well as Kumo's founding and countless battles. A great stage spanned half of one of the longest walls with a full orchestra and a table for the Kage to eat their meal.

Surrounding a large dance floor were tables where the nobles, civilians, and shinobi were settled. Slowly, people were moving from their tables to dance now that dinner had been cleared from the tabletops.

With so many individuals in an enclosed space, Sakura had expected to be too warm in her flowing dress, but vented panels along the top of the walls had been slanted open, so fresh mountain air blew into the room keeping the temperature down. String lights crossing from one wall to another and table lamps provided the majority of the light, but the blazing moon, even hidden behind clouds, was bright enough to illuminate the white and black marble floors.

Dinner had been an extravagant multicourse meal of miso soup and mussels, chirashizushi, and black cod with sautéed vegetables. It was followed by a buffet of desserts tables spanning the longest back wall, including five different flavors of mochi, four different types of dango, manju with a variety of flavors, and even more that Sakura couldn't fathom sampling, lest she rupture her stomach from stuffing too many sweets into it.

Cold sake and many types of Lightning's specialty beverage, apple ale, had been whisked around by waiters in ceramic mugs, and Sakura couldn't help but sample the many flavors of beverages that were provided. As a result, her skin was flushed and her head a bit light from the liquor.

Halting her observations of her genin interact across the room, Sakura picked herself off of her chair and made her way back to the dessert table for round three. Unable to help herself, she stuck a chocolate flavored mochi, which was being kept cool in tubs with plenty of ice, straight into her mouth.

The long, wide sleeve of her kimono-styled dress was almost dragged through adjacent desserts, but Sakura saved it by yanking her arm away in time to spare her gown.

Her dress had been a surprise. She had packed a deep navy blue, floor-length gown that she had been using for formal events for a few years, along with a black cardigan to stave off the cold Kumo weather. However, when she opened the garment bag, she found a surprise and a cheeky note from Ino about her "tired, overused" dress being turned into extra rags.

The kimono-styled dress that her blonde best friend had substituted, she had to admit, was gorgeous. A deep forest green, spaghetti-strapped dress was the bottom layer that fell just below her ankles. It was made of soft satin and was low cut enough to show a small bit of cleavage without being indecent.

The kimono overlay looked like the traditional outer layer of a kimono but was lower cut than normal, so the dark green bottom layer showed across her chest. The lovely sage colored silk wrapped around her shoulders and crossed just below her breasts.

Decorative gold thread embroidery across the bottom of the kimono, in the shapes of leaves and flowers, matched thick gold lace borders on the sleeves and bottom edge of the dress. The obi was the color of daffodils and very narrow compared to traditional obis, only spanning about eight centimeters in width, and was tied firmly just above her navel.

Sakura had to ask Chouko to help her tie all the pieces, thrilling her purple-haired pupil, who had nearly cried at the stunning gown when she first laid eyes on it.

While she had planned on wearing her hair in a simple chignon, Chouko had refused to let her get away unscathed and had pulled down strands to frame her face, brandishing her curling iron more expertly than she could wield a kunai. Matching gold colored sticks held the bun together at the crown of her head.

Her genin were all dressed formally, Chouko in a white dress that her mother had brought and the boys in proper men's kimono.

After sliding back into her assigned table, Sakura went to work on her new plate of sweets. Ryouichi and Chouko were in the middle of the dance floor attempting to keep up with the adults around them. Both had blushes blooming across their cheeks as they stared at their feet, trying not to step on the other's toes. Katsurou was off to the side, speaking with another genin in their graduating year.

"Enjoying yourself?" came an amused voice next to her. A familiar face now sat across from her a few seats down, and she was almost startled that she hadn't sensed him approach. A large smile pulled on the corners of her lips that she could not stop.

"Always," she replied, popping another chocolate mochi in her mouth.

Gaara chuckled and reached over to grab one of her sticks of dango, but Sakura smacked his hand away from her plate, shooing it away.

"Slapping the Kazekage?" he asked, deadpanned. Sakura flushed a bit in embarrassment, but it had been instinctual.

"Well the Kazekage shouldn't steal," she retorted with a snort.

His mint green eyes stared at her blankly for a moment, so finally relenting, Sakura placed the dango he had been aiming for on a napkin and handed it over. After studying it for a moment, he took one bite, then another, and soon he was devouring the sticky treat. They sat together in companionable silence until she had cleared her plate and his dango was gone. Sakura managed to down an entire glass of peach flavored ale in that time as well.

Wiping his hands on a napkin and standing over her, the Kazekage held out his hand. "Dance with me," he intoned.

"You're supposed to ask, not demand," Sakura huffed. His straight lips twitched into as much of a smile as she could ever get out of him, and his hand did not waiver. Dramatically rolling her eyes, she placed her own in his and stood, allowing him to guide her to the dance floor.

He pulled her close, one hand spanning her lower back while the other held hers between them. Bright eyes gazed into her, and Sakura felt herself blushing under their scrutiny. Whether she was terrified of him or falling for him, Sakura's emotional reactions to Gaara had always been strong. Her heart was thudding in her chest at the look in his eyes.

He was just as dangerous here as he was on the battlefield.

After a few faster songs, the orchestra slowed into a waltz, and Gaara pulled her close. Sakura was torn between ending their time together and staying by him the rest of the night, and she couldn't look into his eyes, choosing to stare at a point over his shoulder.

This had its downfalls, as she could others' reactions to her dance with the Godaime Kazekage. They fluctuated between outraged (some Suna kunoichi who were clumped together and glaring at her, whispering amongst themselves) to highly amused (a rather drunk Tsunade).

"You look beautiful tonight," he told her sincerely. In the past, it would have elicited a cheeky response from her. Wasn't she beautiful every night? But right now, the tone was too solemn.

She squeezed the hand in hers a bit tighter but could not bring herself to look at him directly when she whispered, "Thank you."

"We will soon announce the genin who will promote to chuunin," he whispered in her ear. She was able to stop herself from shuddering, but just barely. His grip on her back tightened, pulling them closer together. "I will retire to my room after."

Pulling back to look at him, she gazed into his darkening green eyes to make sure she did not mistake his meaning. The desire she found there told her that her hunch had been correct. Their brief relationship all those years ago had been a secretive one, so they had been forced to speak obliquely when planning their trysts. It was highly unlikely that Kakashi had this sort of thing in mind when teaching his students to look underneath the underneath.

Heat bloomed in her gut, warm and familiar at the realization of his intention. Finally managing to find her words, she replied in a cautious tone, "Gaara…"

The minor tilt to his lips and sadness in his eyes was evident. The song died down, and he pulled back from her. Pushing a strand of coral colored hair out of her eyes, he drew into a deep bow. Her responding curtsy was mechanical and ungraceful.

"I'm not holding you to anything, and I'm not asking you to give anything you aren't willing to," he told her, his voice pitched low so only she could hear. "It's an open invitation. Sixth floor, last room on the right."

With that, he was gone, and Sakura was seeking out another tray with sake. The drinks were being warmed now, as it was later at night and getting cooler. She threw it back, downing it at a pace that would make her shishou jealous, feeling the slight burn as the warm alcohol made its way down her throat.

The proposition was tempting, but she knew it was one that she should not take him up on.

A voice came over a microphone on the stage, asking that all 32 participating genin go to the stage. Making her way back to her table where Ryouichi was sitting, Sakura took her seat as she watched Chouko and Katsurou make their way to the stage and line up with the thirty others who had fought in the final tournament.

The five major Kage were sitting towards the back with small boxes next to their chairs.

The main proctor for the event, and old Kumo ANBU called Ryuu (Sakura doubted that was his real name), tapped on the microphone again. After saying a few words about the success of the exams and thanking all of the villages for participating, he announced that all Kage would now be announcing their new chuunin. But first, he announced two genin from smaller villages that were to be promoted – one from Grass and another from Demon Country.

Then the newly minted Tsuchikage, Kurotsuchi, was called to the microphone. She brought the box that had been next to her feet with her and proudly announced the three new Stone genin who were being promoted. There were brown vests in her box, and she handed them to the newly minted chuunin. Then Mei, the Mizukage, announced Kiri's four new chuunin, all of them receiving silver armored vests and long-sleeved black jackets.

After respectful applause once the Kirigakure nins were complete, Tsunade took her place, and Sakura could see the green flak jackets peeking from her own box.

"Konohagakure will be promoting four genin to chuunin this round," she announced easily.

Sakura was impressed with her mentor's ability to pretend to be sober. She had seen the blonde woman down three times the amount of alcohol that she had drank, yet she was speaking fairly eloquently for likely being very plastered.

"Hirawa Samuru," she stated, handing the vest to a gloomy looking fourteen-year-old that had made it to the semifinals before being knocked out by the Suna nin who would go on to win the entire tournament.

"Next, we have Hyuuga Momoko," she broadcasted. There was a round of applause as the smiling, ivory-eyed girl made her way to the front of the stage. Tsunade shook her hand and gave her a green vest. After the newly coined chuunin took her place back in the lineup, the Hokage turned back so she was facing the crowd.

Oyamada Jomei was called next. The boy was almost 16-years-old, born from two civilian parents, and had lost in the first round to Samuru; however, the fight was very close and came down to a 2-3 vote in favor of the other boy. They had both earned the right to become chuunin.

"Uzuki Chouko."

Sakura almost spit her warm sake onto the table. Ryouichi was the first to react; not even Chouko had seemed to process the news. The genin sitting next to Sakura jumped to his feet and clapped louder than the rest of the room, and a beat or two behind, Sakura stood and clapped loudly, her drink forgotten on the table.

Now used to the pressure forming behind her eyes, she allowed a few tears of joy to escape before ceasing her clapping to wipe the drops away. She couldn't even articulate how proud she was of her physically weakest genin, and couldn't help but notice the mirrors between her and Sakura's own career. Despite being the worst out of her own genin team, Sakura had been the first to make chuunin as well.

Finally seeming to snap to her senses when Katsurou gave her a shove forward, Chouko bypassed the two rows of contestants standing in front of her and made her way to the front of the stage. Sakura's eyes located her sole female genin's mother, who was patrolling the perimeter of the room, and found her to be tearing up a bit as she clapped emphatically as well.

Chouko bowed deeply to the Hokage and took her flak vest, smiling widely as she made her way back to the crowd of genin.

'A' took his place after Tsunade moved to sit next to Mei behind him. Sakura's eyes followed her and found Gaara looking directly at her. His jade eyes were blazing, and she forced herself to look away. She caught the honey eyes of her mentor, who was waggling her brows suggestively and unsubtly motioning towards the red haired man down the row from her.

The rest of the ceremony was gone in a flash. After the two Kumo and three Suna genin were announced and closing statements by Ryuu and the Raikage were made, all of the genin and newly minted chuunin were allowed to disperse from the stage.

Chouko was met at the bottom of the steps by her mother, Yuuago, who wrapped her daughter in a large embrace. Mortified, Chouko tried to fight her off, but wasn't released until Ryouichi ran over to congratulate hit teammate. Even Katsurou, who Sakura worried would have a wounded pride from not being selected, was congratulating his female teammate, trying to tamp down the smile forming on his lips.

Yuuago waved at Sakura before moving back to her post on the perimeter as a guard. Kneeling in her pretty dress, Sakura grabbed Chouko by the shoulders and looked into her dark eyes. The girl was staring at her uncertainly. Yanking her forward and pitching the girl into her chest, Sakura wrapped her arms around her shoulders, feeling more tears form.

"I'm so proud of you," she whispered into her ear. "You deserve this."

"Thanks, sensei," she responded as she wrapped her smaller arms around her teacher's middle, squeezing hard.

Pulling apart, Sakura pushed her genin off to enjoy the rest of the party. Now that the formalities were over, the gala was devolving into a more raucous affair.

Knowing that they would soon be removing the dessert tables to replace them with warm mulled apple cider, Sakura glided to the waning desserts and plucked out some dango sticks. A familiar face was leaning against the far wall, so she grabbed an extra plate and piled it with hanami dango.

Although Itachi was dressed in a simple black men's kimono, Sakura could see the slightest of bulges where weapons were stashed in his outfit. She'd be lying if she said she didn't have her own arsenal secured to her in various places. Her sensei looked at her intently when she held out the very full plate to him. Black eyes alternated between staring at the sweet treats and looking at her with blank apathy.

"I know they're your favorite," she told him, shaking the plate a bit.

"I'm working," he responded, arching a dark eyebrow. He still had not taken the plate from her.

"Fine," she replied offhandedly, shrugging one shoulder and going to dump the dango onto her own plate.

"However," he cut her off, lithe hands swooping it to steal the platter from her grasp. "A small break would be in order."

Throwing her head back and letting out a too-loud laugh, she went to lean against the wall next to him. Her treats were quickly devoured, and went she went to look at Itachi's plate, she found that the clan heir had made quick work of his own desserts.

She remembered when she discovered he enjoyed sweets as much as he did. Mikoto had sent him, for the third time, with food for her during her recovery. When Sakura had peeled back the lid to the container, she found a fresh batch of hanami, mitarshi, and an-dango.

A stick of an-dango was instantly popped into her mouth, and as she chewed the azuki-coated dessert, she found Itachi gazing at her with startling intensity. Cocking her head to the side, she raised her eyebrows to ask him what he wanted.

"My mother gave you the lion's share," he had said, tilting his head at the bursting box.

Sakura had come to find that Itachi was incredibly introverted around new people and socially awkward no matter how long she had known him. Although she had recognized this to an extent when they first started working together, she had not realized how deep his aversion to social interactions was.

He would not speak unless he had something to say or unless he was spoken to first, and when he did communicate with others, he had trouble properly expressing his intention. While he could be incredibly forward during training, in situations outside of the world of shinobi, outside his tightly regimented comfort zone, he acted more like a floundering fish than an actual human being.

So it had taken her understanding all of this to give her the insight of what her sensei was really asking. Chewing and swallowing her bite, she asked, "Do you like dango, Itachi-san?"

He nodded.

"Would you like some of these?" she goaded. His dark eyes searched her for a moment, and then there was another nod. "You're welcome to as much as you'd like."

Quickly, as if to make sure she would not go back on her offer, the heir pulled out three of the five sticks of hanami dango, and the rest was history. Whenever his mother sent over food, Sakura was sure to share her sweets, and found it incredibly ironic and funny that the apathetic and seemingly cold blooded Uchiha could like desserts so much.

Now, watching him finish off the rest of her offerings, she smiled softly.

With the last several months being as they were, between heated conversations about books and movies, and spending time training, Sakura felt that she could really call Itachi her friend. Their friendship was not at the level that hers was with her roommates, or even with Sai or Shikamaru, but the kunoichi felt that she could become even closer with the eldest Uchiha brother if she just managed to pierce that stoic, awkward veil he was seemingly always shrouded in.

Once their plates had been cleared, Sakura handed them to a passing waiter and snagged two mugs of mulled apple cider. The cups were warm, and she passed one to her teacher as she stood in front of him, her back to the party.

He sniffed the ceramic dish uncertainly before taking a test sip. Seemingly liking the warm drink, he took a few longer draws from the thick alcohol. Sakura took a few big gulps, feeling the warm sting as it warmed her from the inside out.

Itachi was looking at a point over her shoulder for a moment. When Sakura turned around to see what had his attention, she found Shisui waving at her from the other side of the wide ballroom closer to the stage. The cousins had seemingly been communicating from across the room.

Distracted as she was by the hyperactive Uchiha waving at her, she did not realize that Itachi had taken her cup out of her hand and placed it, along with his, onto a nearby table. The pinkette turned back to him when he pushed himself off the wall, coming much closer to her than she was used to.

Although his dark eyes didn't betray any emotion, Sakura thought he was debating something within himself or analyzing all outcomes of a situation before speaking. Used to this type of behavior, she simply held his gaze and waited patiently until he said whatever he needed to.

"Would you care to dance?" he finally asked, his voice just above a whisper. If she didn't know any better, she would think that he was nervous. Offering a dazzling smile, she held out her hand for him to take.

"I would love to," she agreed, with a little extra courage from all the ale and sake she had imbibed.

Slipping her hand into the crook of his arm, he led her through the throngs of people to the dance floor. When Itachi swung her around to face him, placing the hand not holding hers in a respectful position on her hip, Sakura found herself surprised that he could dance so gracefully.

As if sensing her thoughts, he murmured, "We were required to take dance lessons, among others."

"I've never been very good at dancing," she replied softly, concentrating on not stepping on his toes. The alcohol was still coursing boldly through her system, and it took her already brutish movements to dangerous levels of clumsiness. She was self-conscious and did not want to embarrass herself. "I've never been very graceful."

Her mentor's face did not outwardly change, but she could see the bit of disbelief in his eyes. A little bewildered by his skepticism, she internally shrugged it off. The mind of Uchiha Itachi was not one to be delved into idly.

Their dance was formal and less intimate, and Itachi held her at a greater distance than Gaara had. The music sped up, and he swept her around the room; although she did not possess much grace, with Itachi leading, she felt like a proper lady. Once again, the music slowed, so he pulled her closer, his lithe hand shifting from her hip to her back, keeping it at a proper spot at the dip in her back.

"So what brought on the urge to dance?" she questioned, looking into his fathomlessly deep onyx eyes. He held her stare for a moment before fixing his attention to a point in the distance.

"My mother," he supplied a little hesitantly, "made me promise to dance at least once during this event."

Ah, so that was it, she mused. It also explained what his and Shisui's non-verbal conversation was about earlier. Mikoto-sama would likely ask for a report from the older of the Uchiha cousins, so Itachi couldn't lie even if he wanted to.

Giggling, Sakura teased, "And I was the safest option? You don't worry that I'll fall prey to your Uchiha charms and become helplessly in love with you?"

Not one to pick up on social cues, Itachi narrowed his eyes at her, not appreciating the mocking lilt to her voice. Apparently that had not been a thought that crossed his mind. He did not respond.

Enjoying teasing her unflappable sensei, she continued dramatically, "Or perhaps that doesn't matter to you because, no matter how in love with you I fall, you find me repulsive and could never return such devotion. Do my feelings mean so little?"

This seemed to be the last straw, for Itachi's blazing black eyes glowered at her so penetratingly that she thought she may have seen them start to bleed red. Realizing too late that the liquor in her system had given her too much courage, Sakura planned on pulling back to end their dance prematurely, but Itachi's hold on her remained firm.

When she mustered the nerve to look at him again, she found him staring at her with intensity she had never witnessed from him before.

Her stomach did a flip. And then, in an act of betrayal so great that she doubted she would ever forgive herself, she felt the proverbial butterflies erupt inside of her.

When she came to the realization, her heart began to beat forcefully in her chest, and she felt heat that had nothing to do with alcohol flush her neck and cheeks.

All of this happened, and Itachi never took his eyes off of her.

"I was teasing," she finally croaked. Managing to meet his stare in an attempt to convince him, she offered a small but weak smile. "I apologize."

"Don't," he commanded, and then, almost as an afterthought, added, "and you are not repulsive."

Letting out a genuine laugh, she squeezed his hand again, still attempting to tame the unwanted flutter in her chest from him calling her _not repulsive._ Get a grip, she commanded herself internally. Not wanting to evaluate exactly what her reactions had meant, she resolved to ignore them until a later date, when she was out of this dress and away from this land.

That was it, she decided resolutely. She was in a different country, dressed more formally than normal, as was Itachi, and it had been an emotional night. Her feelings were all out of whack, and they would go back to normal when she returned to Fire Country.

"Good to hear," she managed to reply. The dance finally ended, and after bowing, Itachi released her hand and guided it to the crook of his arm, leading her off the dance floor.

He told her, "I must return to my duties."

Smiling, she patted his arm and slid her hand from his elbow.

"Thank you for the dance," she expressed sincerely. Even though it resulted in some very unwanted bodily reactions, she thought wryly.

"Thank _you_ ," he replied, with the slightest emphasis on the _you_. Sakura was happy that he felt comfortable enough with her to ask her for that favor, as he would have likely been very distressed to have to ask someone who he was not as familiar with. With that, he walked back to his place on the back wall.

Exhaling a deep breath, Sakura sought out more alcohol. They would be leaving the next day, and the hardworking kunoichi did not want to waste the last bit of freedom she had before returning to a grueling schedule of hospital work, training, and missions.

Inuzuka Kiba was currently in the midst of a drinking competition with Killer Bee, much to her amusement. The poor dog-nin had no idea about the bijuu within the Raikage's brother and could hold his liquor better than any normal shinobi. On the other side of the table where she had chosen to sit, Naruto looked exhausted, nursing a cup of cider with one cheek pressed into his upturned palm, his eyes drooping and staying closed longer with each dip.

It was that moment her genin found her, letting her know they were retiring to their room. Sakura bid goodnight to the trio – all of their sleepy faces and tired goodbyes painfully adorable.

Sakura thought of her own bone-deep fatigue now seeming to crash into her. It had been a long week, and she was ready to return back to Konoha.

Suddenly, she began to feel a bit lonely.

She wasn't sure if it was not being near her normal group of supportive friends for such an extended period of time, the conversation with Gaara, losing her bedpartner in Shikamaru, or sudden emergence of odd feelings for Itachi, but the familiar isolation that would randomly encompass her seemed to crash over her with a debilitating sort of force.

Trying to distract herself, she forced her mind to snap to the present, taking a few sips of her drink as she watched Killer Bee slam his ceramic cup on the table with a shout of victory.

After losing the contest, Kiba tried to challenge a disbelieving Sakura. The Raikage's brother had moved off to carry a dozing Naruto to his room, one orange-clad arm slung over his broad shoulder. While she declined Kiba's offer, she did stay with him for a while longer, sharing the drinks that were still left on the table.

The party began to wind down. When Sakura went to stand up, she felt herself wobble uncertainly, her legs feeling like an odd mix between unsettled jelly and led weights. She had not realized it at the time, but she had drunk another three glasses of apple cider, leading to her woozy state.

"Whoa there, Haruno. You gonna make it?" her former classmate asked her. Nodding and patting him on the shoulder, she walked unsteadily to the double doors of the ballroom.

The now familiar hallway seemed longer than she remembered as it led her to the stairs. She entered the hallway on the second floor and went to the heavy wooden door to her room. Inside, she heard her genin were still up and seemingly playing some sort of card game.

Not sure whether it was the alcohol, loneliness she felt, or the desire that had bloomed in her gut earlier that night resurfacing, but Sakura sealed the room with her normal wards before returning to the staircase. Four flights of stairs later, she crept down the blessedly empty hallway to the last door.

Three soft knocks resonated through the empty space, and after a moment, the door was pulled open to reveal a sleepy looking Kazekage, and belatedly, Sakura realized she may have woken him up. Since the bijuu had been removed from him all those years ago, sleep had become precious to him, and he took it very seriously, she knew. He was wearing his black sleeping pants and a plain shirt, revealing the toned arms that she had become obsessed with when they had been together.

She tamped down the apology for waking him that had bubbled to her lips instantly.

Gaara did not necessarily looked surprised to see her, but he did hold her eyes for several moments, as if searching for something. He seemed to find what he was looking for because he moved to the side, indicating with his hand for her to come in. With a deep, steeling breath, she crossed the threshold.

His lips found hers before the door was shut.

* * *

Author's Note: Thank you to all the reviews for the last chapter, especially those who shared their own experience with PTSD and with the suggestions that came in. Five years ago, I was in a car accident that led to my severest form of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Even years later, I have trouble with being in control of situations and anxiety while in vehicles that I'm not driving, so the symptoms I list are things I have experienced personally. I appreciate others coming forward with different symptoms, as I have only my own experience as knowledge.

Please review this most recent installment.

Stay sexy and don't fall for your sensei.


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